THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


WILSON  ANNEX 

Fran  the  collection 

of 

Alfred  Garvin  Engstrom 

and 

Mary  Claire  Randolph 

Engstrom 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00020135612 


THE  INSIDIOUS 
DR.   FU-MANCHU 


This  book  is  due  at  the  WALTER  R.  DAVIS  LIBRARY  on 
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The  Insidious 
Dr.  Fu-Manchu 


Being  a  somewhat  detailed  account  of  the  amazing  adventures 
of  Nayland  Smith  in  his  trailing  of  the  sinister  Chinaman. 


By  SAX  ROHMKR 
Author  of 

"The  Yellow  Claw, ' '  '  'The  Return 
of  Dr,  Fu-Manchu,"  Etc, 


' 


A.  L.   BURT  COMPANY 

Publishers  New  York 

Published  by  Arrangements  with  Robert  M.  McBride  &  Company 


TH?  I I8RARY 

THE  UNIVERSH"  >RTH  CAROLINA 

AT  CHAPSi.  HILL 


Copyright,  1913,  by 
,  F.  Collier  &  Son,  Inc 

Copyright,     1913,     by 
McBride,  Nast  &  Co. 


Second  Printing 
September,  1913 

Third  Printing 
October,    1913 

Fourth  Printing 
September,  ig*7 

Fifth  Printing 
January,  1920 


PRINTED    IN    UNITED   STATES    OF  AMERICA 

Published,  September,  1913 


THE  INSIDIOUS 
DR.  FU-MANCHU 


Chapter  I 

44    A    GENTLEMAN  to  see  you,  Doctor." 

/•^L        From   across  the  common  a   clock 
sounded  the  half-hour. 

"  Ten-thirty !  "  I  said.  "  A  late  visitor.  Show 
him  up,  if  you  please." 

I  pushed  my  writing  aside  and  tilted  the  lamp- 
shade, as  footsteps  sounded  on  the  landing.  The 
next  moment  I  had  jumped  to  my  feet,  for  a  tall, 
lean  man,  with  his  square-cut,  clean-shaven  face 
sun-baked  to  the  hue  of  coffee,  entered  and  ex- 
tended both  hands,  with  a  cry: 

"Good  old  Petrie!  Didn't  expect  me,  111 
swear ! " 

It  was  Nayland  Smith  —  whom  I  had  thought 
to  be  in  Burma! 

"Smith,"  I  said,  and  gripped, his  hands  hard, 
"this  is  a  delightful  surprise!  Whatever— ■ 
however  — " 

i 


2       THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  Excuse  me,  Petrie"! "  he  broke  in.  "  Don't 
put  it  down  to  the  sun ! "  And  he  put  out  the 
lamp,  plunging  the  room  into  darkness. 

I  was  too  surprised  to  speak. 

"  No  doubt  you  will  think  me  mad,"  he  con- 
tinued, and,  dimly,  I  could  see  him  at  the  window, 
peering  out  into  the  road,  "  but  before  you  are 
many  hours  older  you  will  know  that  I  have  good 
reason  to  be  cautious.  Ah,  nothing  suspicious! 
Perhaps  I  am  first  this  time."  And,  stepping 
back  to  the  writing-table  he  relighted  the  lamp. 

"  Mysterious  enough  for  you?  "  he  laughed,  and 
glanced  at  my  unfinished  MS.  "A  story,  eh? 
From  which  I  gather  that  the  district  is  beastly 
healthy  —  what,  Petrie?  Well,  I  can  put  some 
material  in  your  way  that,  if  sheer  uncanny  mys- 
tery is  a  marketable  commodity,  ought  to  make 
you  independent  of  influenza  and  broken  legs 
and  shattered  nerves  and  all  the  rest." 

I  surveyed  him  doubtfully,  but  there  was  noth- 
ing in  his  appearance  to  justify  me  in  supposing 
him  to  suffer  from  delusions.  His  eyes  were 
too  bright,  certainly,  and  a  hardness  now  had 
crept  over  his  face.  I  got  out  the  whisky  and 
siphon,  saying: 

"You  have  taken  your  leave  early?" 

"  I  am  not  on  leave,"  he  replied,  and  slowly 
filled  his  pipe.     "  I  am  on  duty." 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU        3 

"  On  duty !  "  I  exclaimed.  "  What,  are  you 
moved  to  London  or  something?  " 

"  I  have  got  a  roving  commission,  Petrie,  and 
tt  doesn't  rest  with  me  where  I  am  to-day  nor 
where  I  shall  be  to-morrow." 

There  was  something  ominous  in  the  words, 
nnd,  putting  down  my  glass,  its  contents  un- 
jasted,  I  faced  round  and  looked  him  squarely 
In  the  eyes. 

"Out  with  it!"  I  said.  "What  is  it  all 
ubout?  " 

Smith  suddenly  stood  up  and  stripped  off  his 
roat,  Rolling  back  his  left  shirt-sleeve  he  re- 
vealed a  wicked-looking  wound  in  the  fleshy 
fart  of  the  forearm.  It  was  quite  healed,  but 
curiously  striated  for  an  inch  or  so  around. 

"  Ever  seen  one  like  it?  "  he  asked. 

"  Not  exactly,"  I  confessed.  "  It  appears  to 
Jvave  been  deeply  cauterized." 

"  Right !  Very  deeply !  "  he  rapped.  "  A  barb 
steeped  in  the  venom  of  a  hamadryad  went  in 
there !  " 

A  shudder  I  could  not  repress  ran  coldly 
through  me  at  mention  of  that  most  deadly  of 
all  the  reptiles  of  the  East. 

"  There's  only  one  treatment,"  he  continued, 
rolling  his  sleeve  down  again,  "  and  that's  with 
a  sharp  knife,  a  match,  and  a  broken  cartridge. 


1       THE  INSIDIOUS  DB.  FU-MANCHU 

I  lay  on  my  back,  raving,  for  three  days  after- 
wards, in  a  forest  that  stank  with  malaria,  but  I 
should  have  been  lying  there  now  if  I  had  hesi- 
tated. Here's  the  point.  It  was  not  an  acci- 
rdent!" 

"  What  do  you  mean?  " 

"  I  mean  that  it  was  a  deliberate  attempt  on 
my  life,  and  I  am  hard  upon  the  tracks  of  the 
man  who  extracted  that  venom  —  patiently,  drop 
by  drop  —  from  the  poison-glands  of  the  snake, 
who  prepared  that  arrow,  and  who  caused  it  to 
be  shot  at  me." 

«  What  fiend  is  this?" 

"A  fiend  who,  unless  my  calculations  are  at 
fault,  is  now  in  London,  and  who  regularly  wars 
with  pleasant  weapons  of  that  kind.  Petrie,  I 
have  traveled  from  Burma  not  in  the  interests 
of  the  British  Government  merely,  but  in  the 
interests  of  the  entire  white  race,  and  I  honestly 
believe  —  though  I  pray  I  may  be  wrong  —  that 
its  survival  depends  largely  upon  the  success 
of  my  mission." 

To  say  that  I  was  perplexed  conveys  no  idea 
of  the  mental  chaos  created  by  these  extraor- 
dinary statements,  for  into  my  humdrum  sub- 
urban life  Nayland  Smith  had  brought  fantasy 
of  the  wildest.  I  did  not  know  what  to  think, 
what  to  believe. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU        5 

u  I  am  wasting  precious  time !  "  he  rapped  de- 
cisively, and,  draining  his  glass,  he  stood  up.  "  I 
came  straight  to  you,  because  you  are  the  only 
man  I  dare  to  trust.  Except  the  big  chief  at 
headquarters,  you  are  the  only  person  in  Eng- 
land, I  hope,  who  knows  that  Nay  land  Smith  has 
quitted  Burma.  I  must  have  someone  with  me, 
Petrie,  all  the  time  —  it's  imperative !  Can  you 
put  me  up  here,  and  spare  a  few  days  to  the 
strangest  business,  I  promise  you,  that  ever  was 
recorded  in  fact  or  fiction?" 

I  agreed  readily  enough,  for,  unfortunately, 
my  professional  duties  were  not  onerous. 

"  Good  man !  "  he  cried,  wringing  my  hand  in 
his  impetuous  way.     "  We  start  now." 

"What,  to-night?" 

"To-night!  I  had  thought  of  turning  in,  I 
must  admit.  I  have  not  dared  to  sleep  for  forty- 
eight  hours,  except  in  fifteen-minute  stretches. 
But  there  is  one  move  that  must  be  made  to-night 
and  immediately.  I  must  warn  Sir  Crichton 
Davey." 

"  Sir  Crichton  Davey —  of  the  India—" 

"  Petrie,  he  is  a  doomed  man !  Unless  he  fol- 
lows my  instructions  without  question,  without 
hesitation  —  before  Heaven,  nothing  can  save 
him !  I  do  not  know  when  the  blow  will  fall,  how; 
it  will  fall,  nor  from  whence,  but  I  know  that  m^ 


6       THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHTJ 

first  duty  is  to  warn  him.    Let  us  walk  down  td 
the  corner  of  the  common  and  get  a  taxi." 

How  strangely  does  the  adventurous  intrude 
upon  the  humdrum ;  for,  when  it  intrudes  at  allf 
more  often  than  not  its  intrusion  is  sudden  and 
unlooked  for.  To-day,  we  may  seek  for  romance 
and  fail  to  find  it:  unsought,  it  lies  in  wait  for 
us  at  most  prosaic  corners  of  life's  highway. 

The  drive  that  night,  though  it  divided  the 
drably  commonplace  from  the  wildly  bizarre—' 
though  it  was  the  bridge  between  the  ordinary 
and  the  outre  —  has  left  no  impression  upon  my 
mind.  Into  the  heart  of  a  weird  mystery  the 
cab  bore  me;  and  in  reviewing  my  memories  of 
those  days  I  wonder  that  the  busy  thorough- 
fares through  which  we  passed  did  not  display 
before  my  eyes  signs  and  portents  —  warnings* 

It  was  not  so.  I  recall  nothing  of  the  route 
and  little  of  import  that  passed  between  us  (wa 
both  were  strangely  silent,  I  think)  until  we* 
were  come  to  our  journey's  end.     Then: 

"  What's  this?"  muttered  my  friend  hoarsely. 

Constables  were  moving  on  a  little  crowd  of 
curious  idlers  who  pressed  about  the  steps  of 
Sir  Crichton  Davey's  house  and  sought  to  peer  in 
at  the  open  door.  Without  waiting  for  the  cab 
to  draw  up  to  the  curb,  Nayland  Smith  recklessly 
leaped  out  and  I  followed  close  at  his  heels. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU        7i 

"What  has  happened?"  he  demanded  breath- 
lessly of  a  constable. 

The  latter  glanced  at  him  doubtfully,  but 
something  in  his  voice  and  bearing  commanded 
respect. 

"  Sir  Crichton  Davey  has  been  killed,  sir." 

Smith  lurched  back  as  though  he  had  received 
a  physical  blow,  and  clutched  my  shoulder 
convulsively.  Beneath  the  heavy  tan  his  face  had 
blanched,  and  his  eyes  were  set  in  a  stare  of  hor- 
ror. 

"  My  God !  "  he  whispered.     "  I  am  too  late ! "■ 

With  clenched  fists  he  turned  and,  pressing 
through  the  group  of  loungers,  bounded  up  the 
steps.  In  the  hall  a  man  who  unmistakably  was 
a  Scotland  Yard  official  stood  talking  to  a  foot- 
man. Other  members  of  the  household  were  mov- 
ing about,  more  or  less  aimlessly,  and  the  chilly 
hand  of  King  Fear  had  touched  one  and  all,  for, 
as  they  came  and  went,  they  glanced  ever  over 
their  shoulders,  as  if  each  shadow  cloaked  a 
menace,  and  listened,  as  it  seemed,  for  some  sound 
wThich  they  dreaded  to  hear. 

Smith  strode  up  to  the  detective  and  showed 
him  a  card,  upon  glancing  at  which  the  Scotland 
Yard  man  said  something  in  a  low  voice,  and, 
nodding,  touched  his  hat  to  Smith  in  a  respect- 
ful manner. 


8        THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU     4 

A  few  brief  questions  and  answers,  and,  in 
gloomy  silence,  we  followed  the  detective  np  the 
heavily  carpeted  stair,  along  a  corridor  lined 
with  pictures  and  busts,  and  into  a  large  library. 
A  group  of  people  were  in  this  room,  and  one,  in 
whom  I  recognized  Chalmers  Cleeve,  of  Harley 
Street,  was  bending  over  a  motionless  form 
stretched  upon  a  couch.  Another  door  communi- 
cated with  a  small  study,  and  through  the  opening 
I  could  see  a  man  on  all  fours  examining  the  car- 
pet. The  uncomfortable  sense  of  hush,  the  group 
about  the  physician,  the  bizarre  figure  crawling, 
beetle-like,  across  the  inner  room,  and  the  grim 
hub,  around  which  all  this  ominous  activity 
turned,  made  up  a  scene  that  etched  itself  in- 
delibly on  my  mind. 

As  we  entered  Dr.  Cleeve  straightened  himself, 
frowning  thoughtfully. 

"  Frankly,  I  do  not  care  to  venture  any  opinion 
at  present  regarding  the  immediate  cause  of 
death,"  he  said.  "  Sir  Crichton  was  addicted  to 
cocaine,  but  there  are  indications  which  are  not 
in  accordance  with  cocaine-poisoning.  I  fear 
that  only  a  post-mortem  can  establish  the  facts  — 
if,"  he  added,  "  we  ever  arrive  at  them.  A  most 
mysterious  case ! " 

Smith  stepping  forward  and  engaging  the  fa- 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU        9 

mous  pathologist  in  conversation,  I  seized  the  op- 
portunity to  examine  Sir  Crichton's  body. 

The  dead  man  was  in  evening  dress,  but  wore 
an  old  smoking-jacket.  He  had  been  of  spare  but 
hardy  build,  with  thin,  aquiline  features,  which 
now  were  oddly  puffy,  as  were  his  clenched  hands. 
I  pushed  back  his  sleeve,  and  saw  the  marks  of 
the  hypodermic  syringe  upon  his  left  arm. 
Quite  mechanically  I  turned  my  attention  to  the 
right  arm.  It  was  unscarred,  but  on  the  back  of 
the  hand  was  a  faint  red  mark,  not  unlike  the  im- 
print of  painted  lips.  I  examined  it  closely,  and 
even  tried  to  rub  it  off,  but  it  evidently  was 
caused  by  some  morbid  process  of  local  inflam- 
mation, if  it  were  not  a  birthmark. 

Turning  to  a  pale  young  man  whom  I  had 
understood  to  be  Sir  Crichton's  private  secretary, 
I  drew  his  attention  to  this  mark,  and  inquired 
if  it  were  constitutional. 

"  It  is  not,  sir,"  answered  Dr.  Cleeve,  over- 
hearing my  question.  "  I  have  already  made 
that  inquiry.  Does  it  suggest  anything  to  your 
mind?  I  must  confess  that  it  affords  me  no 
assistance." 

"  Nothing,"  I  replied.    "  It  is  most  curious." 

"  Excuse  me,  Mr.  Burboyne,"  said  Smith,  now 
turning  to  the  secretary,  "but  Inspector  Wey- 


10      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

mouth  will  tell  you  that  I  act  with  authority.  I 
understand  that  Sir  Crichton  was  —  seized  with! 
illness  in  his  study?  " 

"  Yes  —  at  half-past  ten.  I  was  working  here 
in  the  library,  and  he  inside,  as  was  our  custom." 

"  The  communicating  door  was  kept  closed?  " 

"  Yes,  always.  It  was  open  for  a  minute  or 
less  about  ten-twenty-five,  when  a  message  came 
for  Sir  Crichton.  I  took  it  in  to  him,  and  he 
then  seemed  in  his  usual  health." 

"What  was  the  message?" 

"  I  could  not  say.  It  was  brought  by  a  dis- 
trict messenger,  and  he  placed  it  beside  him  on 
the  table.     It  is  there  now,  no  doubt." 

"And  at  half -past  ten?" 

"  Sir  Crichton  suddenly  burst  open  the  door 
and  threw  himself,  with  a  scream,  into  the 
library.  I  ran  to  him  but  he  waved  me  back. 
His  eyes  were  glaring  horribly.  I  had  just 
reached  his  side  when  he  fell,  writhing,  upon  the 
floor.  He  seemed  past  speech,  but  as  I  raised 
him  and  laid  him  upon  the  couch,  he  gasped 
something  that  sounded  like  '  The  red  hand ! ? 
Before  I  could  get  to  bell  or  telephone  he 
was  dead ! " 

Mr.  Burboyne's  voice  shook  as  he  spoke  the 
words,  and  Smith  seemed  to  find  this  evidence 
confusing. 


\ 
THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      11' 

"You  do  not  think  he  referred  to  the  mark 
on  his  own  hand?" 

"  I  think  not.  From  the  direction  of  his  last 
glance,  I  feel  sure  he  referred  to  something  in 
the  study." 

"What  did  you  do?" 

"  Having  summoned  the  servants,  I  ran  into 
the  study.  But  there  was  absolutely  nothing  un- 
usual to  be  seen.  The  windows  were  closed  and 
fastened.  He  worked  with  closed  windows  in 
the  hottest  weather.  There  is  no  other  door,  for 
the  study  occupies  the  end  of  a  narrow  wing,  so 
that  no  one  could  possibly  have  gained  access  to 
it,  whilst  I  was  in  the  library,  unseen  by  me. 
Had  someone  concealed  himself  in  the  study 
earlier  in  the  evening  —  and  I  am  convinced  that 
it  offers  no  hiding-place  —  he  could  only  have 
come  out  again  by  passing  through  here." 

Nayland  Smith  tugged  at  the  lobe  of  his  left 
ear,  as  was  his  habit  when  meditating. 

"  You  had  been  at  work  here  in  this  way  for 
some  time?  " 

"  Yes.  Sir  Crichton  was  preparing  an  im- 
portant book." 

"  Had  anything  unusual  occurred  prior  to  this 
evening?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Burboyne,  with  evident  per- 
plexity ;  "  though  I  attached  no  importance  to  it 


12      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

at  the  time.  Three  nights  ago  Sir  Crichton  came 
out  to  me,  and  appeared  very  nervous;  but  at 
times  his  nerves  —  you  know?  Well,  on  this  oc- 
casion he  asked  me  to  search  the  study.  He  had 
an  idea  that  something  was  concealed  there/' 

"  Some  thing  or  someone?  V 

"  *  Something ?  was  the  word  he  used.  I 
searched,  but  fruitlessly,  and  he  seemed  quite  sat- 
isfied, and  returned  to  his  work." 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  Burboyne.  My  friend  and 
I  would  like  a  few  minutes'  private  investigation 
in  the  study." 


Chapter  II 

SIR  CRICHTON  DAVEY'S  study  was  a 
small  one,  and  a  glance  sufficed  to  show 
that,  as  the  secretary  had  said,  it  offered 
no  hiding-place.  It  was  heavily  carpeted,  and 
over-full  of  Burmese  and  Chinese  ornaments  and 
curios,  and  upon  the  mantelpiece  stood  several 
framed  photographs  which  showed  this  to  be  the 
sanctum  of  a  wealthy  bachelor  who  was  no 
misogynist.  A  map  of  the  Indian  Empire  oc- 
cupied the  larger  part  of  one  wall.  The  grate 
was  empty,  for  the  weather  was  extremely  warm, 
and  a  green-shaded  lamp  on  the  littered  writing- 
table  afforded  the  only  light.  The  air  was  stale, 
for  both  windows  were  closed  and  fastened.. 

Smith  immediately  pounced  upon  a  large, 
square  envelope  that  lay  beside  the  blotting-pad. 
Sir  Crichton  had  not  even  troubled  to  open  it, 
but  my  friend  did  so.  It  contained  a  blank  sheet 
of  paper! 

"  Smell !  "  he  directed,  handing  the  letter  to  me. 

I  raised  it  to  my  nostrils.  It  was  scented 
with  some  pungent  perfume. 

13 


14      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

"What  is  it?"  I  asked. 

"  It  is  a  rather  rare  essential  oil,"  was  the 
reply,  "which  I  have  met  with  before,  though 
never  in  Europe.  I  begin  to  understand, 
Petrie." 

He  tilted  the  lamp-shade  and  made  a  close  ex- 
amination of  the  scraps  of  paper,  matches,  and 
other  debris  that  lay  in  the  grate  and  on  the 
hearth.  I  took  up  a  copper  vase  from  the  mantel- 
piece, and  was  examining  it  curiously,  when  he 
turned,  a  strange  expression  upon  his  face. 

"  Put  that  back,  old  man,"  he  said  quietly. 

Much  surprised,  I  did  as  he  directed. 

"  Don't  touch  anything  in  the  room.  It  may 
be  dangerous." 

Something  in  the  tone  of  his  voice  chilled  me, 
and  I  hastily  replaced  the  vase,  and  stood  by  the 
door  of  the  study,  watching  him  search,  method- 
ically, every  inch  of  the  room  —  behind  the  books, 
in  all  the  ornaments,  in  table  drawers,  in  cup- 
boards, on  shelves. 

"That  will  do,"  he  said  at  last.  "There  is 
nothing  here  and  I  have  no  time  to  search 
farther." 

We  returned  to  the  library. 

"  Inspector  Weymouth,"  said  my  friend,  "  I 
have  a  particular  reason  for  asking  that  Sir 
Crichton's  body  be  removed  from  this  room  at 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      15 

once  and  the  library  locked.  Let  no  one  be  ad- 
mitted on  any  pretense  whatever  until  you  hear 
from  me." 

It  spoke  volumes  for  the  mysterious  credentials 
borne  by  my  friend  that  the  man  from  Scotland 
Yard  accepted  his  orders  without  demur,  and, 
after  a  brief  chat  with  Mr.  Burboyne,  Smith 
passed  briskly  downstairs.  In  the  hall  a  man 
who  looked  like  a  groom  out  of  livery  was  wait- 
ing. 

"Are  you  Wills?"  asked  Smith. 

"Yes,  sir," 

"  It  was  you  who  heard  a  cry  of  some  kind  at 
the  rear  of  the  house  about  the  time  of  Sir 
Crichton's  death?" 

"  Yes,  sir.  I  was  locking  the  garage  door, 
and,  happening  to  look  up  at  the  window  of  Sir 
Crichton's  study,  I  saw  him  jump  out  of  his  chair. 
Where  he  used  to  sit  at  his  writing,  sir,  you 
could  see  his  shadow  on  the  blind.  Next  minute 
I  heard  a  call  out  in  the  lane." 

"What  kind  of  call?" 

The  man,  whom  the  uncanny  happening  clearly 
had  frightened,  seemed  puzzled  for  a  suitable 
description. 

"  A  sort  of  wail,  sir,"  he  said  at  last.  "  I 
never  heard  anything  like  it  before,  and  don't 
want  to  again." 


16      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"Like  this?"  inquired  Smith,  and  he  uttered 
a  low,  wailing  cry,  impossible  to  describe. 

Wills  perceptibly  shuddered;  and,  indeed,  it 
was  an  eerie  sound. 

"  The  same,  sir,  I  think,"  he  said,  "  but  much 
louder." 

"  That  will  do,"  said  Smith,  and  I  thought  I 
detected  a  note  of  triumph  in  his  voice.  "  But 
stay!  Take  us  through  to  the  back  of  the 
house." 

The  man  bowed  and  led  the  way,  so  that 
shortly  we  found  ourselves  in  a  small,  paved 
courtyard.  It  was  a  perfect  summer's  night, 
and  the  deep  blue  vault  above  was  jeweled  with 
myriads  of  starry  points.  How  impossible  it 
seemed  to  reconcile  that  vast,  eternal  calm  with 
the  hideous  passions  and  fiendish  agencies  which 
that  night  had  loosed  a  soul  upon  the  infinite. 

"  Up  yonder  are  the  study  windows,  sir. 
Over  that  wall  on  your  left  is  the  back  lane 
from  which  the  cry  came,  and  beyond  is  Kegent's 
Park." 

"  Are  the  study  windows  visible  from  there?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  sir." 

"  Who  occupies  the  adjoining  house?  " 

"  Major-General  Piatt-Houston,  sir ;  but  the 
family  is  out  of  town." 

"  Those  iron  stairs  are  a  means  of  communica- 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      17 

tion  "between  the  domestic  offices  and  the  serv- 
ants' quarters,  I  take  it?  " 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Then  send  someone  to  make  my  business 
known  to  the  Major-General's  housekeeper;  I 
want  to  examine  those  stairs." 

Singular  though  my  friend's  proceedings  ap- 
peared to  me,  I  had  ceased  to  wonder  at  any- 
thing. Since  Nayland  Smith's  arrival  at  my 
rooms  I  seemed  to  have  been  moving  through  the 
fitful  phases  of  a  nightmare.  My  friend's  ac- 
count of  how  he  came  by  the  wound  in  his  arm ; 
the  scene  on  our  arrival  at  the  house  of  Sir  Crich- 
ton  Davey;  the  secretary9s  story  of  the  dying 
man's  cry,  "  The  red  hand ! " ;  the  hidden  perils 
of  the  study ;  the  wail  in  the  lane  —  all  were  fit- 
ter incidents  of  delirium  than  of  sane  reality. 
So,  when  a  white-faced  butler  made  us  known 
to  a  nervous  old  lady  who  proved  to  be  the 
housekeeper  of  the  next-door  residence,  I  was 
not  surprised  at  Smith's  saying: 

"  Lounge  up  and  down  outside,  Petrie.  Ev- 
eryone has  cleared  off  now.  It  is  getting  late. 
Keep  your  eyes  open  and  be  on  your  guard.  I 
thought  I  had  the  start,  but  he  is  here  before  me, 
and,  what  is  worse,  he  probably  knows  by  now 
that  I  am  here,  too." 

With  which  he  entered  the  house  and  left  me 


18      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

out  in  the  square,  with  leisure  to  think,  to  try; 
to  understand. 

The  crowd  which  usually  haunts  the  scene  of 
a  sensational  crime  had  been  cleared  away,  and 
it  had  been  circulated  that  Sir  Crichton  had; 
died  from  natural  causes.  The  intense  heat  hav-l 
ing  driven  most  of  the  residents  out  of  town, 
practically  I  had  the  square  to  myself,  and  I 
gave  myself  up  to  a  brief  consideration  of  the 
mystery  in  which  I  so  suddenly  had  found  my- 
self involved. 

By  what  agency  had  Sir  Crichton  met  his 
death?  Did  Nayland  Smith  know?  I  rather 
suspected  that  he  did.  What  was  the  hidden 
significance  of  the  perfumed  envelope?  Who 
was  that  mysterious  personage  whom  Smith  so 
evidently  dreaded,  who  had  attempted  his  life, 
who,  presumably,  had  murdered  Sir  Crichton? 
Sir  Crichton  Davey,  during  the  time  that  he  had 
held  office  in  India,  and  during  his  long  term  of 
service  at  home,  had  earned  the  good  will  of  all, 
British  and  native  alike.  Who  was  his  secret 
enemy?  , 

Something  touched  me  lightly  on  the  shoul- 
der. 

I  turned,  with  my  heart  fluttering  like  a 
child's.  This  night's  work  had  imposed  a  severe 
strain  even  upon  my  callous  nerves. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      19 

A  girl  wrapped  in  a  hooded  opera-cloak  stood 
at  my  elbow,  and,  as  she  glanced  up  at  me,  I 
thought  that  I  never  had  seen  a  face  so  seduc- 
tively lovely  nor  of  so  unusual  a  type.  With  the 
skin  of  a  perfect  blonde,  she  had  eyes  and  lashes 
as  black  as  a  Creole's,  which,  together  with  her 
full  red  lips,  told  me  that  this  beautiful 
stranger,  whose  touch  had  so  startled  me,  was 
not  a  child  of  our  northern  shores. 

"  Forgive  me,"  she  said,  speaking  with  an  odd, 
pretty  accent,  and  laying  a  slim  hand,  with 
jeweled  fingers,  confidingly  upon  my  arm,  "if  I 
startled  you.  But  —  is  it  true  that  Sir  Crich- 
ton  Davey  has  been  —  murdered?" 

I  looked  into  her  big,  questioning  eyes,  a  harsh 
suspicion  laboring  in  my  mind,  but  could  read 
nothing  in  their  mysterious  depths  —  only  I 
wondered  anew  at  my  questioner's  beauty.  The 
grotesque  idea  momentarily  possessed  me  that, 
were  the  bloom  of  her  red  lips  due  to  art  and 
not  to  nature,  their  kiss  would  leave  —  though 
not  indelibly  —  just  such  a  mark  as  I  had  seen 
upon  the  dead  man's  hand.  But  I  dismissed 
the  fantastic  notion  as  bred  of  the  night's  hor- 
rors, and  worthy  only  of  a  mediseval  legend. 
No  doubt  she  was  some  friend  or  acquaintance 
of  Sir  Crichton  who  lived  close  by. 

"  I  cannot  say  that  he  has  been  murdered," 


20      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

I  replied,  acting  upon  the  latter  supposition,  and 
seeking  to  tell  her  what  she  asked  as  gently  as 
possible.     "  But  he  is  — " 

"Dead?" 

I  nodded. 

She  closed  her  eyes  and  uttered  a  low,  moan- 
ing sound,  swaying  dizzily.  Thinking  she  was 
about  to  swoon,  I  threw  my  arm  round  her  shoul- 
der to  support  her,  but  she  smiled  sadly,  and 
pushed  me  gently  away. 

"  I  am  quite  well,  thank  you,"  she  said. 

"  You  are  certain?  Let  me  walk  with  you 
until  you  feel  quite  sure  of  yourself." 

She  shook  her  head,  flashed  a  rapid  glance  at 
me  with  her  beautiful  eyes,  and  looked  away  in 
a  sort  of  sorrowful  embarrassment,  for  which  I 
was  entirely  at  a  loss  to  account.  Suddenly  she 
resumed : 

"  I  cannot  let  my  name  be  mentioned  in  this 
dreadful  matter,  but  —  I  think  I  have  some  in- 
formation —  for  the  police.  Will  you  give  this 
to  —  whomever  you  think  proper?" 

She  handed  me  a  sealed  envelope,  again  met 
my  eyes  with  one  of  her  dazzling  glances,  and 
hurried  away.  She  had  gone  no  more  than  ten 
or  twelve  yards,  and  I  still  was  standing  be- 
wildered, watching  her  graceful,  retreating  fig- 
ure, when  she  turned  abruptly  and  came  back. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      21 

[Without  looking  directly  at  me,  but  alternately 
glancing  towards  a  distant  corner  of  the  square 
and  towards  the  house  of  Major-General  Platt- 
Houston,  she  made  the  following  extraordinary 
request : 

"  If  you  would  do  me  a  very  great  service, 
for  which  I  always  would  be  grateful," — she 
glanced  at  me  with  passionate  intentness  — 
"  when  you  have  given  my  message  to  the  proper 
person,  leave  him  and  do  not  go  near  him  any 
more  to-night ! " 

Before  I  could  find  words  to  reply  she  gath- 
ered up  her  cloak  and  ran.  Before  I  could  de- 
termine whether  or  not  to  follow  her  (for  her 
words  had  aroused  anew  all  my  worst  suspicions) 
she  had  disappeared!  I  heard  the  whir  of  a 
restarted  motor  at  no  great  distance,  and,  in 
the  instant  that  Nayland  Smith  came  running 
down  the  steps,  I  knew  that  I  had  nodded  at  my 
post. 

"  Smith ! "  I  cried  as  he  joined  me,  "  tell  me 
what  we  must  do !  " 

And  rapidly  I  acquainted  him  with  the  inci- 
dent. 

I     My  friend  looked  very  grave;  then  a  grim 
smile  crept  round  his  lips. 

"  She  was  a  big  card  to  play,"  he  said ;  "  but 
lie  did  not  know  that  I  held  one  to  beat  it." 


22      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

"  What !    You  know  this  girl !    Who  is  she?  " 

"  She  is  one  of  the  finest  weapons  in  the  en- 
emy's armory,  Petrie.  But  a  woman  is  a  two- 
edged  sword,  and  treacherous.  To  our  great 
good  fortune,  she  has  formed  a  sudden  predilec- 
tion, characteristically  Oriental,  for  yourself. 
Oh,  you  may  scoff,  but  it  is  evident.  She  was 
employed  to  get  this  letter  placed  in  my  hands. 
Give  it  to  me." 

I  did  so. 

"  She  has  succeeded.     Smell." 

He  held  the  envelope  under  my  nose,  and,  with 
a  sudden  sense  of  nausea,  I  recognized  the 
strange  perfume. 

"  You  know  what  this  presaged  in  Sir  Crich* 
Jon's  case?  Can  you  doubt  any  longer?  She 
did  not  want  you  to  share  my  fate,  Petrie." 

"  Smith,"  I  said  unsteadily,  "  I  have  followed 
your  lead  blindly  in  this  horrible  business  and 
have  not  pressed  for  an  explanation,  but  I  must 
insist  before  I  go  one  step  farther  upon  knowing 
what  it  all  means." 

"  Just  a  few  steps  farther,"  he  rejoined ;  "  as 
far  as  a  cab.  We  are  hardly  safe  here.  Oh, 
you  need  not  fear  shots  or  knives.  The  man 
whose  servants  are  watching  us  now  scorns  to 
employ  such  clumsy,  tell-tale  weapons." 

Only  three  cabs  were  on  the  rank,  and,  as  we 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      23 

entered  the  first,  something  hissed  past  my  ear. 
missed  both  Smith  and  me  by  a  miracle,  and, 
passing  over  the  roof  of  the  taxi,  presumably  fell 
in  the  enclosed  garden  occupying  the  center  of 
the  square. 

"  What  was  that?  *  I  cried. 

"  Get  in  —  quickly !  "  Smith  rapped  back. 
"  It  was  attempt  number  one !  More  than  that 
I  cannot  say.  Don't  let  the  man  hear.  He  has 
noticed  nothing.  Pull  up  the  window  on  your 
side,  Petrie,  and  look  out  behind.  Good !  We've 
started." 

The  cab  moved  off  with  a  metallic  jerk,  and  I 
turned  and  looked  back  through  the  little  win- 
dow in  the  rear. 

"  Someone  has  got  into  another  cab.  It  is  fol- 
lowing ours,  I  think." 

Nayland  Smith  lay  back  and  laughed  un- 
mirthfully. 

"  Petrie,"  he  said,  "  if  I  escape  alive  from  this 
business  I  shall  know  that  I  bear  a  charmed 
life." 

I  made  no  reply,  as  he  pulled  out  the  dilapi- 
dated pouch  and  filled  his  pipe. 

"  You  have  asked  me  to  explain  matters,"  he 
continued,  "  and  I  will  do  so  to  the  best  of  my 
ability.  You  no  doubt  wonder  why  a  servant  of 
the    British    Government,    lately    stationed    in 


24      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

Burma,  suddenly  appears  in  London,  in  the  char- 
acter of  a  detective.  I  am  here,  Petrie  —  and  I 
bear  credentials  from  the  very  highest  sources 
—  because,  quite  by  accident,  I  came  upon  a 
clew.  Following  it  up,  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
routine,  I  obtained  evidence  of  the  existence  and 
malignant  activity  of  a  certain  man.  At  the 
present  stage  of  the  case  I  should  not  be  justi- 
fied in  terming  him  the  emissary  of  an  Eastern 
Power,  but  I  may  say  that  representations  are 
shortly  to  be  made  to  that  Power's  ambassador 
in  London." 

He  paused  and  glanced  back  towards  the  pur- 
suing cab. 

"  There  is  little  to  fear  until  we  arrive  home," 
he  said  calmly.  "Afterwards  there  is  much. 
To  continue:  This  man,  whether  a  fanatic  or 
a  duly  appointed  agent,  is,  unquestionably,  the 
most  malign  and  formidable  personality  exist- 
ing in  the  known  world  to-day.  He  is  a  linguist 
who  speaks  with  almost  equal  facility  in  any  of 
the  civilized  languages,  and  in  most  of  the  bar- 
baric. He  is  an  adept  in  all  the  arts  and  sciences 
which  a  great  university  could  teach  him.  He 
also  is  an  adept  in  certain  obscure  arts  and 
sciences  which  no  university  of  to-day  can  teach. 
He  has  the  brains  of  any  three  men  of  genius. 
Petrie,  he  is  a  mental  giant." 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      25 

"  You  amaze  me!"  I  said. 

"  As  to  his  mission  among  men.  Why  did  M. 
Jules  Furneaux  fall  dead  in  a  Paris  opera  house? 
Because  of  heart  failure?  No!  Because  his 
last  speech  had  shown  that  he  held  the  key  to 
the  secret  of  Tongking.  What  became  of  the 
Grand  Duke  Stanislaus?  Elopement?  Sui- 
cide? Nothing  of  the  kind.  He  alone  was  fully 
alive  to  Russia's  growing  peril.  He  alone  knew 
the  truth  about  Mongolia.  Why  was  Sir  Crich- 
ton  Davey  murdered?  Because,  had  the  work 
he  was  engaged  upon  ever  seen  the  light  it  would 
have  shown  him  to  be  the  only  living  English- 
man who  understood  the  importance  of  the 
Tibetan  frontiers.  I  say  to  you  solemnly,  Petrie, 
that  these  are  but  a  few.  Is  there  a  man  who 
would  arouse  the  West  to  a  sense  of  the  awaken- 
ing of  the  East,  who  would  teach  the  deaf  to 
hear,  the  blind  to  see,  that  the  millions  only 
await  their  leader?  He  will  die.  And  this  is 
only  one  phase  of  the  devilish  campaign.  The 
others  I  can  merely  surmise." 

"But,  Smith,  this  is  almost  incredible! 
What  perverted  genius  controls  this  awful  secret 
movement?'* 

"  Imagine  a  person,  tall,  lean  and  feline,  high- 
shouldered,  with  a  brow  like  Shakespeare  and  a 
face  like  Satan,  a  close-shaven  skull,  and  long, 


26     THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

magnetic  eyes  of  the  true  cat-green.  Invest  him 
with  all  the  cruel  cunning  of  an  entire  Eastern 
race,  accumulated  in  one  giant  intellect,  with  all 
the  resources  of  science  past  and  present,  with 
all  the  resources,  if  you  will,  of  a  wealthy  govern- 
ment—  which,  however,  already  has  denied  all 
knowledge  of  his  existence.  Imagine  that  awful 
being,  and  you  have  a  mental  picture  of  Dr.  Fu- 
Manchu,  the  yellow  peril  incarnate  in  one  man.'? 


Chapter  III 

I  SANK  into  an  arm-chair  in  my  rooms  and 
gulped  down  a  strong  peg  of  brandy. 
"  We  have  been  followed  here,"  I  said. 
"Why  did  you  make  no  attempt  to  throw  the 
pursuers   off    the   track,   to    have   them   inter- 
cepted? " 

Smith  laughed. 

"  Useless,  in  the  first  place.  Wherever  we 
went,  he  would  find  us.  And  of  what  use  to  ar- 
rest his  creatures?  We  could  prove  nothing 
against  them.  Further,  it  is  evident  that  an  at- 
tempt is  to  be  made  upon  my  life  to-night  —  and 
by  the  same  means  that  proved  so  successful  in 
the  case  of  poor  Sir  Crichton." 

His  square  jaw  grew  truculently  prominent, 
and  he  leapt  stormily  to  his  feet,  shaking  his 
clenched  fists  towards  the  window. 

"  The  villain !  "  he  cried.  "  The  fiendishly 
clever  villain!  I  suspected  that  Sir  Crichton 
was  next,  and  I  was  right.  But  I  came  too  late, 
Petrie!  That  hits  me  hard,  old  man.  To  think 
that  I  knew  and  yet  failed  to  save  him ! H 

27 


28     THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

He  resumed  his  seat,  smoking  hard. 

"  Fu-Manchu  has  made  the  blunder  common  to 
all  men  of  unusual  genius,"  he  said.  "  He  has 
underrated  his  adversary.  He  has  not  given  me 
credit  for  perceiving  the  meaning  of  the  scented 
messages.  He  has  thrown  away  one  powerful 
weapon  —  to  get  such  a  message  into  my  hands 

—  and  he  thinks  that  once  safe  within  doors,  I 
shall  sleep,  unsuspecting,  and  die  as  Sir  Crich- 
ton  died.  But  without  the  indiscretion  of  your 
charming  friend,  I  should  have  known  what  to 
expect  when  I  received  her  '  information ' — 
which,  by  the  way,  consists  of  a  blank  sheet  of 
paper." 

"Smith,"  I  broke  in,  "who  is  she?" 
"  She    is    either    Fu-Manchu's    daughter,    his 
wife,  or  his  slave.     I  am  inclined  to  believe  the 
last,  for  she  has  no  will  but  his  will,  except" 

—  with  a  quizzical  glance — "in  a  certain  in- 
stance." 

"  How  can  you  jest  with  some  awful  thing 

—  Heaven  knows  what  —  hanging  over  your 
head?  What  is  the  meaning  of  these  perfumed 
envelopes?    How  did  Sir  Crichton  die?  " 

"  He  died  of  the  Zayat  Kiss.  Ask  me  what 
that  is  and  I  reply  f  I  do  not  know/  The  zayats 
are  the  Burmese  caravanserais,  or  rest-houses. 
lAlong  a  certain  route  —  upon  which  I  set  eyes, 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      29 

for,  the  first  and  only  time,  upon  Dr.  Fu-Manchu 
—  travelers  who  use  them  sometimes  die  as  Sir 
Crichton  died,  with  nothing  to  show  the  cause 
of  death  but  a  little  mark  upon  the  neck,  face,  or 
limb,  which  has  earned,  in  those  parts,  the  title 
of  the  '  Zayat  Kiss.'  The  rest-houses  along  that 
route  are  shunned  now.  I  have  my  theory  and 
I  hope  to  prove  it  to-night,  if  I  live.  It  will  be 
one  more  broken  weapon  in  his  fiendish  armory, 
and  it  is  thus,  and  thus  only,  that  I  can  hope  to 
crush  him.  This  was  my  principal  reason  for 
not  enlightening  Dr.  Cleeve.  Even  walls  have 
ears  where  Fu-Manchu  is  concerned,  so  I  feigned 
ignorance  of  the  meaning  of  the  mark,  knowing 
that  he  would  be  almost  certain  to  employ  the 
same  methods  upon  some  other  victim.  I  wanted 
an  opportunity  to  study  the  Zayat  Kiss  in  op- 
eration, and  I  shall  have  one." 

"  But  the  scented  envelopes?  " 

"  In  the  swampy  forests  of  the  district  I  have 
referred  to  a  rare  species  of  orchid,  almost  green, 
and  with  a  peculiar  scent,  is  sometimes  met 
with.  I  recognized  the  heavy  perfume  at  once. 
I  take  it  that  the  thing  which  kills  the  traveler 
is  attracted  by  this  orchid.  You  will  notice 
that  the  perfume  clings  to  whatever  it  touches. 
I  doubt  if  it  can  be  washed  off  in  the  ordinary 
way.    After  at  least  one  unsuccessful  attempt 


30      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

to  kill  Sir  Crichton  —  you  recall  that  lie  thought 
there  was  something  concealed  in  his  study  on 
a  previous  occasion?  —  Fu-Manchu  hit  upon  the 
perfumed  envelopes.  He  may  have  a  supply 
of  these  green  orchids  in  his  possession  —  pos- 
sibly to  feed  the  creature." 

"  What  creature?  How  could  any  kind  of 
creature  have  got  into  Sir  Crichton's  room  to- 
night?" 

"  You  no  doubt  observed  that  I  examined  the 
grate  of  the  study.  I  found  a  fair  quantity  of 
fallen  soot.  I  at  once  assumed,  since  it  ap- 
peared to  be  the  only  means  of  entrance,  that 
something  has  been  dropped  down ;  and  I  took  it 
for  granted  that  the  thing,  whatever  it  was, 
must  still  be  concealed  either  in  the  study  or 
in  the  library.  But  when  I  had  obtained  the 
evidence  of  the  groom,  Wills,  I  perceived  that 
the  cry  from  the  lane  or  from  the  park  was  a 
signal.  I  noted  that  the  movements  of  any- 
one seated  at  the  study  table  were  visible,  in 
shadow,  on  the  blind,  and  that  the  study  occu- 
pied the  corner  of  a  two-storied  wing  and,  there- 
fore, had  a  short  chimney.  What  did  the  signal 
mean?  That  Sir  Crichton  had  leaped  up  from 
his  chair,  and  either  had  received  the  Zayat  Kiss 
or  had  seen  the  thing  which  someone  on  the 
roof  had  lowered  down  the  straight  chimney. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      31 

It  was  the  signal  to  withdraw  that  deadly  thing. 
By  means  of  the  iron  stairway  at  the  rear  of 
Major-General  Piatt-Houston's,  I  quite  easily 
gained  access  to  the  roof  above  Sir  Crichton's 
study  — and  I  found  this." 

Out  from  his  pocket  Nayland  Smith  drew  a 
tangled  piece  of  silk,  mixed  up  with  which  were 
a  brass  ring  and  a  number  of  unusually  large- 
sized  split-shot,  nipped  on  in  the  manner  usual 
on  a  fishing-line. 

^  "  My  theory  proven,"  he  resumed.  «  Not  an- 
ticipating a  search  on  the  roof,  they  had  been 
careless.  This  was  to  weight  the  line  and  to 
prevent  the  creature  clinging  to  the  walls  of 
the  chimney.  Directly  it  had  dropped  in  the 
grate,  however,  by  means  of  this  ring  I  assume 
that  the  weighted  line  was  withdrawn,  and  the 
thing  was  only  held  by  one  slender  thread,  which 
sufficed,  though,  to  draw  it  back  again  when  it 
had  done  its  work.  It  might  have  got  tangled, 
of  course,  but  they  reckoned  on  its  making 
straight  up  the  carved  leg  of  the  writing-table 
for  the  prepared  envelope.  From  there  to  the 
hand  of  Sir  Crichton  —  which,  from  having 
touched  the  envelope,  would  also  be  scented  with 
the  perfume  —  was  a  certain  move." 

"  My  God !     How  horrible !  "  I  exclaimed,  and 
glanced  apprehensively  into  the  dusky  shadows 


32      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

of  the  room.  "  What  is  your  theory  respecting 
this  creature  —  what  shape,  what  color  —  %V 

"  It  is  something  that  moves  rapidly  and  si- 
lently. I  will  venture  no  more  at  present,  but 
I  think  it  works  in  the  dark.  The  study  was 
dark,  remember,  save  for  the  bright  patch  be* 
neath  the  reading-lamp.  I  have  observed  that 
the  rear  of  this  house  is  ivy-covered  right  up  to 
and  above  your  bedroom.  Let  us  make  osten- 
tatious preparations  to  retire,  and  I  think  we 
may  rely  upon  Fu-Manchu's  servants  to  attempt 
my  removal,  at  any  rate  —  if  not  yours." 

"  But,  my  dear  fellow,  it  is  a  climb  of  thirty- 
five  feet  at  the  very  least." 

"  You  remember  the  cry  in  the  back  lane? 
It  suggested  something  to  me,  and  I  tested  my 
idea  —  successfully.  It  was  the  cry  of  a  da- 
coit.  Oh,  dacoity,  though  quiescent,  is  by  no 
means  extinct.  Fu-Manchu  has  dacoits  in  his 
train,  and  probably  it  is  one  who  operates  the 
Zayat  Kiss,  since  it  was  a  dacoit  who  watched 
the  window  of  the  study  this  evening.  To  such 
a  man  an  ivy-covered  wall  is  a  grand  staircase." 

The  horrible  events  that  followed  are  punctu- 
ated, in  my  mind,  by  the  striking  of  a  distant 
clock.  It  is  singular  how  trivialities  thus  as- 
sert themselves  in  moments  of  high  tension.  I 
will  proceed,  then,  by  these  punctuations,  to  the 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      33 

coming  of  the  horror  that  it  was  written  we 
should  encounter. 

The  clock  across  the  common  struck  two. 

Having  removed  all  traces  of  the  scent  of  the 
orchid  from  our  hands  with  a  solution  of  am- 
monia, Smith  and  I  had  followed  the  programme 
laid  down.  It  was  an  easy  matter  to  reach  the 
rear  of  the  house,  by  simply  climbing  a  fence, 
and  we  did  not  doubt  that,  seeing  the  light  go 
out  in  the  front,  our  unseen  watcher  would  pro- 
ceed to  the  back. 

The  room  was  a  large  one,  and  we  had  made 
up  my  camp-bed  at  one  end,  stuffing  odds  and 
ends  under  the  clothes  to  lend  the  appearance  of 
a  sleeper,  which  device  we  also  had  adopted  in 
the  case  of  the  larger  bed.  The  perfumed  en- 
velope lay  upon  a  little  coffee  table  in  the  center 
of  the  floor,  and  Smith,  with  an  electric  pocket 
lamp,  a  revolver,  and  a  brassey  beside  him,  sat 
on  cushions  in  the  shadow  of  the  wardrobe.  I 
occupied  a  post  between  the  windows. 

No  unusual  sound,  so  far,  had  disturbed  the 
stillness  of  the  night.  Save  for  the  muffled 
throb  of  the  rare  all-night  cars  passing  the  front 
of  the  house,  our  vigil  had  been  a  silent  one. 
The  full  moon  had  painted  about  the  floor  weird 
shadows  of  the  clustering  ivy,  spreading  the  de- 
sign gradually  from  the  door,  across  the  room, 


34      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

past  the  little  table  where  the  envelope  lay,  and 
finally  to  the  foot  of  the  bed. 

The  distant  clock  struck  a  quarter-past  two. 

A  slight  breeze  stirred  the  ivy,  and  a  new 
shadow  added  itself  to  the  extreme  edge  of  the 
moon's  design. 

Something  rose,  inch  by  inch,  above  the  sill 
of  the  westerly  window.  I  could  see  only  its 
shadow,  but  a  sharp,  sibilant  breath  from  Smith 
told  me  that  he,  from  his  post,  could  see  the 
cause  of  the  shadow. 

Every  nerve  in  my  body  seemed  to  be  strung 
tensely.  I  was  icy  cold,  expectant,  and  pre- 
pared for  whatever  horror  was  upon  us. 

The  shadow  became  stationary.  The  dacoit 
was  studying  the  interior  of  the  room. 

Then  it  suddenly  lengthened,  and,  craning  my 
head  to  the  left,  I  saw  a  lithe,  black-clad  form, 
surmounted  by  a  yellow  face,  sketchy  in  the 
moonlight,  pressed  against  the  window-panes! 

One  thin,  brown  hand  appeared  over  the  edge 
of  the  lowered  sash,  which  it  grasped  —  and  then 
another.  The  man  made  absolutely  no  sound 
whatever.  The  second  hand  disappeared  —  and 
reappeared.     It  held  a  small,  square  box. 

There  was  a  very  faint  click. 

The  dacoit  swung  himself  below  the  window 
with  the  agility  of  an  ape,  as,   with  a  dull, 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      35 

muffled  thud,  something  dropped  upon  the  car- 
pet! 

"  Stand  still,  for  your  life ! "  came  Smith's 
voice,  high-pitched. 

A  beam  of  white  leaped  out  across  the  room 
and  played  full  upon  the  coffee-table  in  the 
center. 

Prepared  as  I  was  for  something  horrible,  I 
know  that  I  paled  at  sight  of  the  thing  that 
was  running  round  the  edge  of  the  envelope. 

It  was  an  insect,  full  six  inches  long,  and  of 
a  vivid,  venomous,  red  color!  It  had  something 
of  the  appearance  of  a  great  ant,  with  its  long, 
quivering  antennae  and  its  febrile,  horrible  vi- 
tality ;  but  it  was  proportionately  longer  of  body 
and  smaller  of  head,  and  had  numberless  rapidly 
moving  legs.  In  *hort,  it  was  a  giant  centipede, 
apparently  of  the  scolopendra  group,  but  of  a 
form  quite  new  to  me. 

These  things  I  realized  in  one  breathless 
instant ;  in  the  next  —  Smith  had  dashed  the 
thing's  poisonous  life  out  with  one  straight,  true 
blow  of  the  golf  club ! 

I  leaped  to  the  window  and  threw  it  widely 
open,  feeling  a  silk  thread  brush  my  hand  as  I 
did  so.  A  black  shape  was  dropping,  with  in- 
credible agility  from  branch  to  branch  of  the  ivy, 
and,  without  once  offering  a  mark  for  a  revolver- 


36      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

shot,  it  merged  into  the  shadows  beneath  the 
trees  of  the  garden. 

As  I  turned  and  switched  on  the  light  Nayland 
Smith  dropped  limply  into  a  chair,  leaning  his 
head  upon  his  hands.  Even  that  grim  courage 
had  been  tried  sorely. 

"  Never  mind  the  dacoit,  Petrie,"  he  said. 
"  Nemesis  will  know  where  to  find  him.  We 
know  now  what  causes  the  mark  of  the  Zayat 
Kiss.  Therefore  science  is  richer  for  our  first 
brush  with  the  enemy,  and  the  enemy  is  poorer  — 
unless  he  has  any  more  unclassified  centipedes. 
I  understand  now  something  that  has  been  puz- 
zling me  since  I  heard  of  it  —  Sir  Crichton's 
stifled  cry.  When  we  remember  that  he  was  al- 
most past  speech,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
his  cry  was  not  '  The  red  hand ! '  but  '  The  red 
ant! '  Petrie,  to  think  that  I  failed,  by  less  than 
an  hour,  to  save  him  from  such  an  end ! " 


Chapter  IV 

£  J^riHE  body  of  a  lascar,  dressed  in  the  man- 
ner usual  on  the  P.  &  O.  boats,  was  re- 
covered from  the  Thames  off  Tilbury 

by  the  river  police  at  six  A.  M.  this  morning.     It  is 

supposed  that  the  man  met  with  an  accident  in 

leaving  his  ship." 

Nayland  Smith  passed  me  the  evening  paper 
and  pointed  to  the  above  paragraph. 

"  For  '  lascar ?  read  *  dacoit,'  "  he  said.  "  Our 
visitor,  who  came  by  way  of  the  ivy,  fortunately 
for  us,  failed  to  follow  his  instructions.  Also, 
he  lost  the  centipede  and  left  a  clew  behind  him. 
Dr.  Fu-Manchu  does  not  overlook  such  lapses." 

It  was  a  sidelight  upon  the  character  of  the 
awful  being  with  whom  we  had  to  deal.  My 
very  soul  recoiled  from  bare  consideration  of 
the  fate  that  would  be  ours  if  ever  we  fell  into 
his  hands. 

The  telephone  bell  rang.  I  went  out  and 
found  that  Inspector  Weymouth  of  New  Scotland 
Yard  had  called  us  up. 

37 


38      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  Will  Mr.  Nayland  Smith  please  come  to  tlie 
Wapping  River  Police  Station  at  once,"  was  the 
message.  p 

Peaceful  interludes  were  few  enough  through- 
out that  wild  pursuit. 

"  It  is  certainly  something  important/'  said 
my  friend ;  "  and,  if  Fu-Manchu  is  at  the  bottom 
of  it  —  as  we  must  presume  him  to  be  —  probably 
something  ghastly." 

A  brief  survey  of  the  time-tables  showed  us 
that  there  were  no  trains  to  serve  our  haste. 
We  accordingly  chartered  a  cab  and  proceeded 
east. 

Smith,  throughout  the  journey,  talked  enter- 
tainingly about  his  work  in  Burma.  Of  intent, 
I  think,  he  avoided  any  reference  to  the  circum- 
stances which  first  had  brought  him  in  contact 
with  the  sinister  genius  of  the  Yellow  Movement. 
His  talk  was  rather  of  the  sunshine  of  the  East 
than  of  its  shadows. 

But  the  drive  concluded  —  and  all  too  soon. 
In  a  silence  which  neither  of  us  seemed  disposed 
to  break,  we  entered  the  police  depot,  and 
followed  an  officer  who  received  us,  into  the  room 
where  Weymouth  waited. 

The  inspector  greeted  us  briefly,  nodding 
toward  the  table. 

"  Poor  Oadby,  the  most  promising  lad  at  the 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      3D 

Yard,"  he  said;  and  his  usually  gruff  voice  had 
softened  strangely. 

Smith  struck  his  right  fist  into  the  palm  of  his 
left  hand  and  swore  under  his  breath,  striding 
up  and  down  the  neat  little  room.  No  one  spoke 
for  a  moment,  and  in  the  silence  I  could  hear  the 
whispering  of  the  Thames  outside  —  of  the 
Thames  which  had  so  many  strange  secrets  to 
tell,  and  now  was  burdened  with  another. 

The  body  lay  prone  upon  the  deal  table  —  this 
latest  of  the  river's  dead  —  dressed  in  rough 
sailor  garb,  and,  to  all  outward  seeming,  a  sea- 
man of  nondescript  nationality  —  such  as  i# 
no  stranger  in  Wapping  and  Shadwell.  Hi* 
dark,  curly  hair  clung  clammily  about  the  brown 
forehead;  his  skin  was  stained,  they  told  me. 
He  wore  a  gold  ring  in  one  ear,  and  three  fingers 
of  the  left  hand  were  missing. 

"  It  was  almost  the  same  with  Mason."  Tho 
river  police  inspector  was  speaking.  "A  week, 
ago,  on  a  Wednesday,  he  went  off  in  his  own  tim« 
on  some  funny  business  down  St.  George's  way 
—  and  Thursday  night  the  ten-o'clock  boat  got 
the  grapnel  on  him  off  Hanover  Hole.  His  first 
two  fingers  on  the  right  hand  were  clean  gone, 
and  his  left  hand  was  mutilated  frightfully." 

He  paused  and  glanced  at  Smith. 

"That  lascar,  too,"  he  continued,  "that  you 


40      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

came  down  to  see,  sir;  you  remember  his  hands?  " 

Smith  nodded. 

"  He  was  not  a  lascar,"  he  said  shortly.  "  He 
was  a  dacoit." 

Silence  fell  again. 

I  turned  to  the  array  of  objects  lying  on  thef 
table  —  those  which  had  been  found  in  Cadby's 
clothing.  None  of  them  were  noteworthy,  ex- 
cept that  which  had  been  found  thrust  into  the 
loose  neck  of  his  shirt.  This  last  it  was  which 
had  led  the  police  to  send  for  Nayland  Smith, 
for  it  constituted  the  first  clew  which  had  come 
to  light  pointing  to  the  authors  of  these  mys- 
terious tragedies. 

It  was  a  Chinese  pigtail.  That  alone  was 
sufficiently  remarkable;  but  it  was  rendered 
more  so  by  the  fact  that  the  plaited  queue  was  a 
false  one,  being  attached  to  a  most  ingenious 
bald  wig. 

"  You're  sure  it  wasn't  part  of  a  Chinese  make- 
up?" questioned  Weymouth,  his  eye  on  the 
strange  relic.     "  Cadby  was  clever  at  disguise." 

Smith  snatched  the  wig  from  my  hands  with 
a  certain  irritation,  and  tried  to  fit  it  on  the  dead 
detective. 

"  Too  small  by  inches !  "  he  jerked.  "  And 
look  how  it's  padded  in  the  crown.  This  thing 
was  made  for  a  most  abnormal  head." 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      41 

He  threw  it  down,  and  fell  to  pacing  the  room 
again. 

"Where  did  you  find  him  —  exactly?"  he 
asked. 

"  Limehouse  Reach  —  under  Commercial  Dock 
Pier  —  exactly  an  hour  ago." 

"And  you  last  saw  him  at  eight  o'clock  last 
night?" — to  Weymouth. 

"  Eight  to  a  quarter  past." 

"  You  think  he  has  been  dead  nearly  twenty- 
four  hours,  Petrie?  " 

"  Roughly,  twenty-four  hours,"  I  replied. 

"  Then,  we  know  that  he  was  on  the  track  of 
the  Fu-Manchu  group,  that  he  followed  up  some 
clew  which  led  him  to  the  neighborhood  of  old 
Eatcliff  Highway,  and  that  he  died  the  same 
night.  You  are  sure  that  is  where  he  was 
going?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Weymouth.  u  He  was  jealous  of 
giving  anything  away,  poor  chap ;  it  meant  a  big 
lift  for  him  if  he  pulled  the  case  off.  But  he 
gave  me  to  understand  that  he  expected  to  spend 
last  night  in  that  district.  He  left  the  Yard 
about  eight,  as  I've  said,  to  go  to  his  rooms,  and 
dress  for  the  job." 

"  Did  he  keep  any  record  of  his  cases?  " 

"  Of  course !  He  was  most  particular.  Cadby 
was  a  man  with  ambitions,  sir!     You'll  want  to 


42      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

see  his  book.  Wait  while  I  get  his  address;  it's 
somewhere  in  Brixton." 

He  went  to  the  telephone,  and  Inspector  Ry- 
man  covered  up  the  dead  man's  face. 

Nayland  Smith  was  palpably  excited. 

"  He  almost  succeeded  where  we  have  failed, 
iPetrie,"  he  said.  "  There  is  no  doubt  in  my 
mind  that  he  was  hot  on  the  track  of  Fu-Manchu ! 
Poor  Mason  had  probably  blundered  on  the  scent, 
too,  and  he  met  with  a  similar  fate.  Without 
other  evidence,  the  fact  that  they  both  died  in  the 
same  way  as  the  dacoit  would  be  conclusive,  for 
we  know  that  Fu-Manchu  killed  the  dacoit ! " 

"  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  mutilated  hands, 
Smith?" 

"  God  knows !  Cadby's  death  was  from  drown- 
ing, you  say?  " 

"  There  are  no  other  marks  of  violence." 

"  But  he  was  a  very  strong  swimmer,  Doctor," 
interrupted  Inspector  Ryman.  "  Why,  he  pulled 
off  the  quarter-mile  championship  at  the  Crystal 
Palace  last  year!  Cadby  wasn't  a  man  easy  to 
drown.  And  as  for  Mason,  he  was  an  R.N.R., 
and  like  a  fish  in  the  water !  " 

Smith  shrugged  his  shoulders  helplessly. 

"  Let  us  hope  that  one  day  we  shall  know  how 
they  died,"  he  said  simply. 

kWeymouth  returned  from  the  telephone. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      43 

"  The  address  is  No. —  Cold  Harbor  Lane/'  he 
reported.  "  I  shall  not  be  able  to  come  along, 
but  you  can't  miss  it;  it's  close  by  the  Brixton 
Police  Station.  There's  no  family,  fortunately; 
he  was  quite  alone  in  the  world.  His  case-book 
isn't  in  the  American  desk,  which  you'll  find  in 
Ms  sitting-room;  it's  in  the  cupboard  in  the  cor- 
ner —  top  shelf.  Here  are  his  keys,  all  intact. 
I  think  this  is  the  cupboard  key." 

Smith  nodded. 

"  Come  on,  Petrie,"  he  said.  "  We  haven't  a 
second  to  waste." 

Our  cab  was  waiting,  and  in  a  few  seconds  we 
were  speeding  along  Wapping  High  Street.  We 
had.  gone  no  more  than  a  few  hundred  yards,  I 
think,  when  Smith  suddenly  slapped  his  open 
hand  down  on  his  knee. 

"  That  pigtail !  "  he  cried.  "  I  have  left  it  be- 
hind !    We  must  have  it,  Petrie !    Stop !    Stop  I  " 

The  cab  was  pulled  up,  and  Smith  alighted. 

"  Don't  wait  for  me,"  he  directed  hurriedly. 
"  Here,  take  Weymouth's  card.  Remember 
where  he  said  the  book  was?  It's  all  we  want. 
Come  straight  on  to  Scotland  Yard  and  meet  me 
there." 

"But,  Smith,"  I  protested,  "a  few  minutes 
can  make  no  difference !  " 

"  Can't  it !  "  he  snapped.     "  Do  you  suppose 


U      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

Fu-Manchu  is  going  to  leave  evidence  like  that 
lying  about?  It's  a  thousand  to  one  he  has  it  al- 
ready, but  there  is  just  a  bare  chance." 

It  was  a  new  aspect  of  the  situation  and  one 
that  afforded  no  room  for  comment ;  and  so  lost 
in  thought  did  I  become  that  the  cab  was  out- 
side the  house  for  which  I  was  bound  ere  I  real- 
ized that  we  had  quitted  the  purlieus  of  Wap- 
ping.  Yet  I  had  had  leisure  to  review  the  whole 
troop  of  events  which  had  crowded  my  life  since 
the  return  of  Nayland  Smith  from  Burma. 
Mentally,  I  had  looked  again  upon  the  dead  Sir 
Crichton  Davey,  and  with  Smith  had  waited  in 
the  dark  for  the  dreadful  thing  that  had  killed 
him.  Now,  with  those  remorseless  memories 
jostling  in  my  mind,  I  was  entering  the  house  of 
Fu-Manchu's  last  victim,  and  the  shadow  of  that 
giant  evil  seemed  to  lie  upon  it  like  a  palpable 
cloud. 

Cadby's  old  landlady  greeted  me  with  a  queer 
mixture  of  fear  and  embarrassment  in  her  man- 
ner. 

"  I  am  Dr.  Petrie,"  I  said,  "  and  I  regret  that 
I  bring  bad  news  respecting  Mr.  Cadby." 

"  Oh,  sir !  "  she  cried.  "  Don't  tell  me  that 
anything  has  happened  to  him ! "  And  divin- 
ing something  of  the  mission  on  which  I  was 
come,  for  such  sad  duty  often  falls  to  the  lot  of 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      45 

the  medical  man :  "  Oh,  the  poor,  brave  lad !  " 
Indeed,  I  respected  the  dead  man's  memory 
more  than  ever  from  that  hour,  since  the  sorrow 
of  the  worthy  old  soul  was  quite  pathetic,  and 
spoke  eloquently  for  the  unhappy  cause  of  it. 

"  There  was  a  terrible  wailing  at  the  back  of  the 
house  last  night,  Doctor,  and  I  heard  it  again 
to-night,  a  second  before  you  knocked.  Poor 
lad !     It  was  the  same  when  his  mother  died." 

At  the  moment  I  paid  little  attention  to  her 
words,  for  such  beliefs  are  common,  unfortu- 
nately ;  but  when  she  was  sufficiently  composed  I 
went  on  to  explain  what  I  thought  necessary. 
And  now  the  old  lady's  embarrassment  took  pre- 
cedence of  her  sorrow,  and  presently  the  truth 
came  out : 

"  There's  a  —  young  lady  —  in  his  rooms,  sir." 
I  started.     This  might  mean  little  or  might 
mean  much. 

"  She  came  and  waited  for  him  last  night,  Doc- 
tor —  from  ten  until  half-past  —  and  this  morn- 
ing again.     She  came  the  third  time  about  an 
hour  ago,  and  has  been  upstairs  since." 
"  Do  you  know  her,  Mrs.  Dolan?  " 
Mrs.  Dolan  grew  embarrassed  again. 
"  Well,  Doctor,"  she  said,  wiping  her  eyes  the 
while,  "  I  do.     And  God  knows  he  was  a  good 
lad,  and  I  like  a  mother  to  him ;  but  she  is  not  the 


46      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

girl  I  should  have  liked  a  son  of  mine  to  take  up 
with." 

At  any  other  time,  this  would  have  been 
amusing;  now,  it  might  be  serious.  Mrs.  Dolan's 
account  of  the  wailing  became  suddenly  signifi- 
cant, for  perhaps  it  meant  that  one  of  Fu- 
Manchu's  dacoit  followers  was  watching  the 
house,  to  give  warning  of  any  stranger's  ap- 
proach! Warning  to  whom?  It  was  unlikely 
that  I  should  forget  the  dark  eyes  of  another  of 
Fu-Manchu's  servants.  Was  that  lure  of  men 
even  now  in  the  house,  completing  her  evil  work? 

"  I  should  never  have  allowed  her  in  his 
rooms — "  began  Mrs.  Dolan  again.  Then  there 
was  an  interruption. 

A  soft  rustling  reached  my  ears  —  intimately 
feminine.     The  girl  was  stealing  down ! 

I  leaped  out  into  the  hall,  and  she  turned  and 
fled  blindly  before  me  —  back  up  the  stairs! 
Taking  three  steps  at  a  time,  I  followed  her, 
bounded  into  the  room  above  almost  at  her  heels, 
and  stood  with  my  back  to  the  door. 

She  cowered  against  the  desk  by  the  window, 

|  a  slim  figure  in  a  clinging  silk  gown,  which  alone 

'explained  Mrs.  Dolan's  distrust.     The  gaslight 

was  turned  very  low,  and  her  hat  shadowed  her 

face,  but  could  not  hide  its  startling  beauty, 

could  not  mar  the  brilliancy  of  the  skin,  nor  dim 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      47 

the  wonderful  eyes  of  this  modern  Delilah.     For 
it  was  she ! 

"  So  I  came  in  time,"  I  said  grimly,  and  turned 
the  key  in  the  lock. 

"  Oh ! "  she  panted  at  that,  and  stood  facing 
me,  leaning  back  with  her  jewel-laden  hands 
clutching  the  desk  edge. 

"  Give  me  whatever  you  have  removed  from 
here,"  I  said  sternly,  "and  then  prepare  to  ac- 
company me." 

She  took  a  step  forward,  her  eyes  wide  with 
fear,  her  lips  parted. 

"  I  have  taken  nothing,"  she  said.  Her  breast 
was  heaving  tumultuously.  "  Oh,  let  me  go ! 
Please,  let  me  go !  "  And  impulsively  she  threw 
herself  forward,  pressing  clasped  hands  against 
my  shoulder  and  looking  up  into  my  face  with 
passionate,  pleading  eyes. 

It  is  with  some  shame  that  I  confess  how  her 
charm  enveloped  me  like  a  magic  cloud.  Unfa- 
miliar with  the  complex  Oriental  temperament, 
I  had  laughed  at  Nayland  Smith  when  he  had 
spoken  of  this  girl's  infatuation.  "  Love  in  the 
East,"  he  had  said,  "  is  like  the  conjurer's  mango- 
jtree;  it  is  born,  grows  and  flowers  at  the  touch  of 
a  hand."  Now,  in  those  pleading  eyes  I  read 
confirmation  of  his  words.  Her  clothes  or  her 
hair   exhaled   a   faint   perfume.     Like   all   Fu- 


48      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

Manchu's  servants,  she  was  perfectly  chosen  for 
her  peculiar  duties.  Her  beauty  was  wholly  in- 
toxicating. 

But  I  thrust  her  away. 

"  You  have  no  claim  to  mercy,"  I  said.  "  Do 
not  count  upon  any.  What  have  you  taken  from 
here?" 

She  grasped  the  lapels  of  my  coat. 

"  I  will  tell  you  all  I  can  —  all  I  dare,"  she 
panted  eagerly,  fearfully.  "  I  should  know  how 
to  deal  with  your  friend,  but  with  you  I  am  lost ! 
If  you  could  only  understand  you  would  not  be 
so  cruel."  Her  slight  accent  added  charm  to  the 
musical  voice.  "  I  am  not  free,  as  your  English 
women  are.  What  I  do  I  must  do,  for  it  is  the 
will  of  my  master,  and  I  am  only  a  slave.  Ah, 
you  are  not  a  man  if  you  can  give  me  to  the  po- 
lice. You  have  no  heart  if  you  can  forget  that 
I  tried  to  save  you  once." 

I  had  feared  that  plea,  for,  in  her  own  Oriental 
fashion,  she  certainly  had  tried  to  save  me  from 
a  deadly  peril  once  —  at  the  expense  of  my 
friend.  But  I  had  feared  the  plea,  for  I  did  not 
know  how  to  meet  it.  How  could  I  give  her  up, 
perhaps  to  stand  her  trial  for  murder?  And 
now  I  fell  silent,  and  she  saw  why  I  was  silent. 

"  I  may  deserve  no  mercy ;  I  may  be  even  as 
bad  as  you  think ;  but  what  have  you  to  do  with 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      49 

the  police?  It  is  not  your  work  to  hound  a 
woman  to  death.  Could  you  ever  look  another 
woman  in  the  eyes  —  one  that  you  loved,  and 
know  that  she  trusted  you  —  if  you  had  done 
such  a  thing?  Ah,  I  have  no  friend  in  all  the 
wrorld,  or  I  should  not  be  here.  Do  not  be  my 
enemy,  my  judge,  and  make  me  worse  than  I  am ; 
be  my  friend,  and  save  me  —  from  him"  The 
tremulous  lips  were  close  to  mine,  her  breath 
fanned  my  cheek.     "  Have  mercy  on  me." 

At  that  moment  I  honestly  would  have  given 
half  of  my  worldly  possessions  to  have  been 
spared  the  decision  which  I  knew  I  must  come  to. 
After  all,  what  proof  had  I  that  she  was  a  willing 
accomplice  of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu?  Furthermore, 
she  was  an  Oriental,  and  her  code  must  neces- 
sarily be  different  from  mine.  Irreconcilable  as 
the  thing  may  be  with  Western  ideas,  Nayland 
Smith  had  really  told  me  that  he  believed  the 
girl  to  be  a  slave.  Then  there  remained  that 
other  reason  why  I  loathed  the  idea  of  becoming 
her  captor.  It  was  almost  tantamount  to  be- 
trayal!    Must  I  soil  my  hands  with  such  work? 

Thus  —  I  suppose  —  her  seductive  beauty  ar- 
gued against  my  sense  of  right.  The  jeweled 
fingers  grasped  my  shoulders  nervously,  and  her 
slim  body  quivered  against  mine  as  she  watched 
me,  with  all  her  soul  in  her  eyes,  in  an  abandon- 


SO      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

ment  of  pleading  despair.     Then  I  remembered 
the  fate  of  the  man  in  whose  room  we  stood. 

"  You  lured  Cadby  to  his  death,"  I  said,  and 
shook  her  off. 

"  No,  no ! "  she  cried  wildly,  clutching  at  me. 
"  No,  I  swear  by  the  holy  name  I  did  not !  I  did { 
not!  I  watched  him,  spied  upon  him  —  yes! 
But,  listen:  it  was  because  he  would  not  be 
warned  that  he  met  his  death.  I  could  not  save 
him !  Ah,  I  am  not  so  bad  as  that.  I  will  tell 
you.  I  have  taken  his  notebook  and  torn  out  the 
last  pages  and  burnt  them.  Look!  in  the  grate. 
The  book  was  too  big  to  steal  away.  I  came 
twice  and  could  not  find  it.  There,  will  you  let 
me  go?  " 

"  If  you  will  tell  me  where  and  how  to  seize 
Dr.  Fu-Manchu  —  yes." 

Her  hands  dropped  and  she  took  a  backward 
step.     A  new  terror  was  to  be  read  in  her  face. 

"  I  dare  not!     I  dare  not !  " 

"  Then  you  would  —  if  you  dared?  " 

She  was  watching  me  intently. 

"  Not  if  you  would  go  to  find  him,"  she  said. 

And,  with  all  that  I  thought  her  to  be,  the 
stern  servant  of  justice  that  I  would  have  had 
myself,  I  felt  the  hot  blood  leap  to  my  cheek  at 
all  which  the  words  implied.  She  grasped  my 
arm. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      51 

"  Could  you  hide  me  from  him  if  I  came  to  you, 
and  told  you  all  I  know?  " 

"The  authorities — " 

"  Ah !  "  Her  expression  changed.  "  They  can 
put  me  on  the  rack  if  they  choose,  but  never  one 
word  would  I  speak  —  never  one  little  word." 

She  threw  up  her  head  scornfully.  Then  the 
proud  glance  softened  again. 

"  But  I  will  speak  for  you." 

Closer  she  came,  and  closer,  until  she  could 
whisper  in  my  ear. 

"  Hide  me  from  your  police,  from  Mm,  from 
everybody,  and  I  will  no  longer  be  his  slave." 

My  heart  was  beating  with  painful  rapidity. 
I  had  not  counted  on  this  warring  with  a  woman ; 
moreover,  it  was  harder  than  I  could  have  dreamt 
of.  For  some  time  I  had  been  aware  that  by  the 
charm  of  her  personality  and  the  art  of  her 
pleading  she  had  brought  me  down  from  my  judg- 
ment seat  —  had  made  it  all  but  impossible  for 
me  to  give  her  up  to  justice.  Now,  I  was  dis- 
armed—  but  in  a  quandary.  What  should  I 
do?  What  could  I  do?  I  turned  away  from  her 
and  walked  to  the  hearth,  in  which  some  paper 
ash  lay  and  yet  emitted  a  faint  smell. 

Not  more  than  ten  seconds  elapsed,  I  am  con- 
fident, from  the  time  that  I  stepped  across  the 
room  until  I  glanced  back.     But  she  had  gone ! 


52      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

As  I  leapt  to  the  door  the  key  turned  gently 
from  the  outside.  * 

"Ma  'alesh!"  came  her  soft  whisper;  "but  I 
am  afraid  to  trust  you  —  yet.  Be  comforted,  for 
there  is  one  near  who  would  have  killed  you  had 
I  wished  it.  Kemember,  I  will  come  to  you  when- 
ever you  will  take  me  and  hide  me." 

Light  footsteps  pattered  down  the  stairs.  I 
heard  a  stifled  cry  from  Mrs.  Dolan  as  the  mys- 
terious visitor  ran  past  her.  The  front  door 
opened  and  closed. 


Chapter  V 

4  6  ^T  HEN-YAN'S  is  a  dope-shop  in  one  of 
^^  the  burrows  off  the  old  Eatcliff 
Highway,"  said  Inspector  Weymouth. 
"  '  Singapore  Charlie's/  they  call  it.  It's  a  center 
for  some  of  the  Chinese  societies,  I  believe,  but 
all  sorts  of  opium-smokers  use  it.  There  have 
never  been  any  complaints  that  I  know  of.  T 
don't  understand  this." 

We  stood  in  his  room  at  New  Scotland  Yard, 
bending  over  a  sheet  of  foolscap  upon  which  were 
arranged  some  burned  fragments  from  poor 
Cadby's  grate,  for  so  hurriedly  had  the  girl  done 
her  work  that  combustion  had  not  been  complete. 

"What  do  we  make  of  this?"  said  Smith. 
uc  .  .  .  Hunchback  .  .  .  lascar  went  up  .  .  . 
unlike  others  .  .  .  not  return  .  .  .  till  Shen- 
Yan  '  (there  is  no  doubt  about  the  name,  I  think) 
1  turned  me  out  .  .  .  booming  sound  .  .  .  lascar 
in  .  .  .  mortuary  I  could  ident  .  .  .  not  for 
days,  or  suspici  .  .  .  Tuesday  night  in  a  different 
make  .  .  .  snatch  .  .  .  pigtail  .  .  .' " 

"  The  pigtail  again !  "  rapped  Weymouth. 

63 


54      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

"  She  evidently  burned  the  torn-out  pages  all 
together,"  continued  Smith.  "  They  lay  flat, 
and  this  was  in  the  middle.  I  see  the  hand  of 
retributive  justice  in  that,  Inspector.  Now  we 
have  a  reference  to  a  hunchback,  and  what  fol- 
lows amounts  to  this:  A  lascar  (amongst 
several  other  persons)  went  up  somewhere-— 
presumably  upstairs  —  at  Shen-Yan's,  and  did 
not  come  down  again.  Cadby,  who  was  there  dis- 
guised, noted  a  booming  sound.  Later,  he  identi- 
fied the  lascar  in  some  mortuary.  We  have  no 
means  of  fixing  the  date  of  this  visit  to  Shen- 
Yan's,  but  I  feel  inclined  to  put  down  the  '  lascar 9 
as  the  dacoit  who  was  murdered  by  Fu-Manchu ! 
It  is  sheer  supposition,  however.  But  that  Cadby 
meant  to  pay  another  visit  to  the  place  in  a  dif- 
ferent c  make-up  '  or  disguise,  is  evident,  and  that 
the  Tuesday  night  proposed  was  last  night  is  a 
reasonable  deduction.  The  reference  to  a  pigtail 
is  principally  interesting  because  of  what  was 
found  on  Cadby's  body." 

Inspector  Weymouth  nodded  affirmatively,  and 
Smith  glanced  at  his  watch. 

i  "  Exactly  ten -twenty-three,"  he  said.  "  I  will 
trouble  you,  Inspector,  for  the  freedom  of  your 
fancy  wardrobe.  There  is  time  to  spend  an  hour 
in  the  company  of  Shen-Yan's  opium  friends." 

Weymouth  raised  his  eyebrows. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      55' 

"It  might  be  risky.  What  about  an  official 
visit?" 

Nayland  Smith  laughed. 

"  Worse  than  useless !  By  your  own  showing, 
the  place  is  open  to  inspection.  No ;  guile  against 
guile!  We  are  dealing  with  a  Chinaman,  with 
the  incarnate  essence  of  Eastern  subtlety,  with 
the  most  stupendous  genius  that  the  modern 
Orient  has  produced." 

"I  don't  believe  in  disguises,"  said  Wey- 
mouth, with  a  certain  truculence.  "  It's  mostly 
played  out,  that  game,  and  generally  leads  to 
failure.  Still,  if  you're  determined,  sir,  there's 
an  end  of  it.  Foster  will  make  your  face  up. 
What  disguise  do  you  propose  to  adopt?  " 

"A  sort  of  Dago  seaman,  I  think;  something 
like  poor  Cadby.  I  can  rely  on  my  knowledge 
of  the  brutes,  if  I  am  sure  of  my  disguise." 

"  You  are  forgetting  me,  Smith,"  I  said. 

He  turned  to  me  quickly. 

"  Petrie,"  he  replied,  "  it  is  my  business,  un- 
fortunately, but  it  is  no  sort  of  hobby." 

"  You  mean  that  you  can  no  longer  rely  upon 
me?  "  I  said  angrily. 

Smith  grasped  my  hand,  and  met  my  rather 
frigid  stare  with  a  look  of  real  concern  on  his 
gaunt,  bronzed  face. 

"  My  dear  old  chap,"  he  answered,  "  that  was 


56      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

really  unkind.  You  know  that  I  meant  some* 
thing  totally  different." 

"  It's  all  right,  Smith,"  I  said,  immediately 
ashamed  of  my  choler,  and  wrung  his  hand 
heartily.  "  I  can  pretend  to  smoke  opium  as 
well  as  another.  I  shall  be  going,  too,  Inspec- 
tor." 

As  a  result  of  this  little  passage  of  words, 
some  twenty  minutes  later  two  dangerous-look- 
ing seafaring  ruffians  entered  a  waiting  cab,  ac- 
companied by  Inspector  Weymouth,  and  were 
driven  off  into  the  wilderness  of  London's  night. 
In  this  theatrical  business  there  was,  to  my  mind, 
something  ridiculous  —  almost  childish  —  and  I 
could  have  laughed  heartily  had  it  not  been  that 
grim  tragedy  lurked  so  near  to  farce. 

The  mere  recollection  that  somewhere  at  our 
journey's  end  Fu-Manchu  awaited  us  was  suffix 
cient  to  sober  my  reflections  —  Fu-Manchu,  who, 
with  all  the  powers  represented  by  Nayland 
Smith  pitted  against  him,  pursued  his  dark 
schemes  triumphantly,  and  lurked  in  hiding  with- 
in this  very  area  which  was  so  sedulously  pa- 
trolled—  Fu-Manchu,  whom  I  had  never  seen, 
but  whose  name  stood  for  horrors  indefinable! 
[Perhaps  I  was  destined  to  meet  the  terrible  Chin- 
ese doctor  to-night. 

I  ceased  to  pursue  a  train  of  thought  which 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU     57 

promised  to  lead  to  morbid  depths,  and  directed 
my  attention  to  what  Smith  was  saying. 

"We  will  drop  down  from  Wapping  and  re- 
connoiter,  as  you  say  the  place  is  close  to  the 
riverside.  Then  you  can  put  us  ashore  some- 
where below.  Ryman  can  keep  the  launch  close 
to  the  back  of  the  premises,  and  your  fellows 
will  be  hanging  about  near  the  front,  near  enough 
to  hear  the  whistle." 

"Yes,"  assented  Weymouth;  "I've  arranged 
for  that.  If  you  are  suspected,  you  shall  give  the 
alarm?" 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Smith  thoughtfully. 
"  Even  in  that  event  I  might  wait  awhile." 

"  Don't  wait  too  long,"  advised  the  Inspector. 
"  We  shouldn't  be  much  wiser  if  your  next  ap- 
pearance was  on  the  end  of  a  grapnel,  somewhere 
down  Greenwich  Reach,  with  half  your  fingers 
missing." 

The  cab  pulled  up  outside  the  river  police  de- 
pot, and  Smith  and  I  entered  without  delay, 
four  shabby-looking  fellows  who  had  been  seated 
in  the  office  springing  up  to  salute  the  Inspector, 
who  followed  us  in. 

"Guthrie  and  Lisle,"  he  said  briskly,  "get 
along  and  find  a  dark  corner  which  commands 
the  door  of  Singapore  Charlie's  off  the  old  High- 
way.    You    look    the    dirtiest    of    the    troupe, 


58      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

Guthrie ;  you  might  drop  asleep  on  the  pavement, 
and  Lisle  can  argue  with  you  about  getting  home. 
Don't  move  till  you  hear  the  whistle  inside  or 
have  my  orders,  and  note  everybody  that  goes 
in  and  comes  out.  You  other  two  belong  to  this 
division?  " 

The  C.I.D.  men  having  departed,  the  remain- 
ing pair  saluted  again. 

"  Well,  you're  on  special  duty  to-night.  You've 
been  prompt,  but  don't  stick  your  chests  out  so 
much.  Do  you  know  of  a  back  way  to  Shen- 
Yan's?  " 

The  men  looked  at  one  another,  and  both 
shook  their  heads. 

"  There's  an  empty  shop  nearly  opposite,  sir," 
replied  one  of  them.  "  I  know  a  broken  window 
at  the  back  where  we  could  climb  in.  Then  we 
could  get  through  to  the  front  and  watch  from 
there." 

"  Good !  "  cried  the  Inspector.  "  See  you  are 
not  spotted,  though ;  and  if  you  hear  the  whistle, 
don't  mind  doing  a  bit  of  damage,  but  be  inside 
Shen-Yan's  like  lightning.  Otherwise,  wait  for 
orders." 

Inspector  Ryman  came  in,  glancing  at  the 
clock. 

"  Launch  is  waiting,"  he  said. 

u  Right,"  replied  Smith  thoughtfully.     "  I  am 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      59 

half  afraid,  though,  that  the  recent  alarms  may 
have  scared  our  quarry  —  your  man,  Mason,  and 
then  Cadby.  Against  which  we  have  that,  so 
far  as  he  is  likely  to  know,  there  has  been  no 
clew  pointing  to  this  opium  den.  Remember,  he 
thinks  Cadby's  notes  are  destroyed." 

"  The  wThole  business  is  an  utter  mystery  to 
me,"  confessed  Ryman.  "  I'm  told  that  there's 
some  dangerous  Chinese  devil  hiding  somewhere 
in  London,  and  that  you  expect  to  find  him  at 
Shen-Yan's.  Supposing  he  uses  that  place,  which 
is  possible,  how  do  you  know  he's  there  to-night?  " 

"  I  don't,"  said  Smith ;  "  but  it  is  the  first  clew 
we  have  had  pointing  to  one  of  his  haunts,  and 
time  means  precious  lives  where  Dr.  Fu-Manchu 
is  concerned." 

"  Who  is  he,  sir,  exactly,  this  Dr.  Fu-Manchu?  " 

"  I  have  only  the  vaguest  idea,  Inspector ;  but 
he  is  no  ordinary  criminal.  He  is  the  greatest 
genius  which  the  powers  of  evil  have  put  on  earth 
for  centuries.  He  has  the  backing  of  a  political 
group  whose  wealth  is  enormous,  and  his  mission 
in  Europe  is  to  pave  the  way!  Do  you  follow 
me?  He  is  the  advance-agent  of  a  movement  so 
epoch-making  that  not  one  Britisher,  and  not  one 
American,  in  fifty  thousand  has  ever  dreamed  of 
it." 

Ryman  stared,  but  made  no  reply,  and  we  went 


60      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

out,  passing  down  to  the  breakwater  and  board- 
ing the  waiting  launch.  With  her  crew  of  three, 
the  party  numbered  seven  that  swung  out  into 
the  Pool,  and,  clearing  the  pier,  drew  in  again 
and  hugged  the  murky  shore. 

The  night  had  been  clear  enough  hitherto,  but 
now  came  scudding  rainbanks  to  curtain  the 
crescent  moon,  and  anon  to  unveil  her  again  and 
show  the  muddy  swirls  about  us.  The  view  was 
not  extensive  from  the  launch.  Sometimes  a 
deepening  of  the  near  shadows  would  tell  of  a 
moored  barge,  or  lights  high  above  our  heads 
mark  the  deck  of  a  large  vessel.  In  the  floods  of 
moonlight  gaunt  shapes  towered  above ;  in  the  en- 
suing darkness  only  the  oily  glitter  of  the  tide 
occupied  the  foreground  of  the  night-piece. 

The  Surrey  shore  was  a  broken  wall  of  black- 
ness, patched  with  lights  about  which  moved 
hazy  suggestions  of  human  activity.  The  bank 
we  were  following  offered  a  prospect  even  more 
gloomy  — -  a  dense,  dark  mass,  amid  which,  some- 
times, mysterious  half-tones  told  of  a  dock  gate, 
or  sudden  high  lights  leapt  flaring  to  the  eye. 

Then,  out  of  the  mystery  ahead,  a  green  light 
grew  and  crept  down  upon  us.  A  giant  shape 
loomed  up,  and  frowned  crushingly  upon  the 
little  craft.  A  blaze  of  light,  the  jangle  of  a  bell, 
and  it  was  past.     We  were  dancing  in  the  wash 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      61 

of  one  of  the  Scotch  steamers,  and  the  murk  had 
fallen  again. 

Discords  of  remote  activity  rose  above  the  more 
intimate  throbbing  of  our  screw,  and  we  seemed 
a  pigmy  company  floating  past  the  workshops 
of  Brobdingnagian  toilers.  The  chill  of  the 
near  water  communicated  itself  to  me,  and  I  felt 
the  protection  of  my  shabby  garments  inadequate 
against  it. 

Far  over  on  the  Surrey  shore  a  blue  light  — 
vaporous,  mysterious  —  flicked  translucent 
tongues  against  the  night's  curtain.  It  was  a 
weird,  elusive  flame,  leaping,  wavering,  magically 
changing  from  blue  to  a  yellowed  violet,  rising, 
falling. 

"  Only  a  gasworks,"  came  Smith's  voice,  and  I 
knew  that  he,  too,  had  been  watching  those  el- 
fin fires.  "  But  it  always  reminds  me  of  a  Mexi- 
can teocalli,  and  the  altar  of  sacrifice." 

The  simile  was  apt,  but  gruesome.  I  thought 
of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  and  the  severed  fingers,  and 
could  not  repress  a  shudder. 

"  On  your  left,  past  the  wooden  pier !  Not 
where  the  lamp  is  —  beyond  that;  next  to  the 
dark,  square  building  —  Shen-Yan's." 

It  was  Inspector  Ryman  speaking. 

"  Drop  us  somewhere  handy,  then,"  replied 
Smith,  "and  lie  close  in,  with  your  ears  wide 


62      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

open.  We  may  have  to  run  for  it,  so  don't  go 
far  away." 

From  the  tone  of  his  voice  I  knew  that  the 
night  mystery  of  the  Thames  had  claimed  at 
least  one  other  victim. 

"  Dead  slow,"  came  Ryman's  order.  "  We'll 
put  in  to  the  Stone  Stairs." 


Chapter  VI 

A  SEEMINGLY  drunken  voice  was  dron- 
ing   from    a    neighboring    alleyway    as 
Smith  lurched  in  hulking  fashion  to  the. 
door    of    a    little    shop    above    which,    crudely 
painted,  were  the  words: 

"  SHEN-YAN,  Barber." 

I  shuffled  along  behind  him,  and  had  time  to 
note  the  box  of  studs,  German  shaving  tackle  and 
rolls  of  twist  which  lay  untidily  in  the  window 
ere  Smith  kicked  the  door  open,  clattered  down 
three  wooden  steps,  and  pulled  himself  up  with 
a  jerk,  seizing  my  arm  for  support. 

We  stood  in  a  bare  and  very  dirty  room,  which 
could  only  claim  kinship  with  a  civilized  shaving- 
saloon  by  virtue  of  the  grimy  towel  thrown 
across  the  back  of  the  solitary  chair.  A  Yid- 
dish theatrical  bill  of  some  kind,  illustrated, 
adorned  one  of  the  walls,  and  another  bill,  in 
what  may  have  been  Chinese,  completed  the  dec- 
orations. From  behind  a  curtain  heavily  bro- 
caded with  filth  a  little  Chinaman  appeared, 
dressed  in  a  loose  smock,   black  trousers  and 

63 


64      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

thick-soled  slippers,  and,  advancing,  shook  his 
head  vigorously. 

"  No  shavee  —  no  shavee,"  he  chattered, 
simian  fashion,  squinting  from  one  to  the  other 
of  us  with  his  twinkling  eyes.  "  Too  late ! 
Shuttee  shop ! " 

"  Don't  you  come  none  of  it  wi'  me ! "  roared 
Smith,  in  a  voice  of  amazing  gruffness,  and  shook 
an  artificially  dirtied  fist  under  the  Chinaman's 
nose.  "  Get  inside  and  gimme  an'  my  mate  a 
couple  o'  pipes.  Smokee  pipe,  you  yellow  scum 
—  savvy?  " 

My  friend  bent  forward  and  glared  into  the 
other's  eyes  with  a  vindictiveness  that  amazed 
me,  unfamiliar  as  I  was  with  this  form  of  gentle 
persuasion. 

"  Kop  'old  o'  that,"  he  said,  and  thrust  a  coin 
into  the  Chinaman's  yellow  paw.  "  Keep  me 
waitin'  an'  I'll  pull  the  dam'  shop  down,  Charlie. 
You  can  lay  to  it." 

"  No  hab  got  pipee  — "  began  the  other. 

Smith  raised  his  fist,  and  Yan  capitulated. 

"  Allee  lightee,"  he  said.  "  Full  up  —  no  loom. 
You  come  see." 

He  dived  behind  the  dirty  curtain,  Smith  and  I 
following,  and  ran  up  a  dark  stair.  The  next 
moment  I  found  myself  in  an  atmosphere  which 
was   literally   poisonous.     It   was   all   but   un- 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      65 

breathable,  being  loaded  with,  opium  fumes. 
Never  before  had  I  experienced  anything  like  it. 
Every  breath  was  an  effort.  A  tin  oil-lamp  on 
a  box  in  the  middle  of  the  floor  dimly  illumi- 
nated the  horrible  place,  about  the  walls  of  which 
ten  or  twelve  bunks  were  ranged  and  all  of  them 
occupied.  Most  of  the  occupants  were  lying  mo- 
tionless, but  one  or  two  were  squatting  in  their 
bunks  noisily  sucking  at  the  little  metal  pipes. 
These  had  not  yet  attained  to  the  opium-smoker's 
Nirvana. 

"  No  loom  —  samee  tella  you,"  said  Shen-Yan, 
complacently  testing  Smith's  shilling  with  his 
yellow,  decayed  teeth. 

Smith  walked  to  a  corner  and  dropped  cross- 
legged,  on  the  floor,  pulling  me  down  with  him. 

"  Two  pipe  quick,"  he  said.  "  Plenty  room. 
Two  piecee  pipe  —  or  plenty  heap  trouble." 

A  dreary  voice  from  one  of  the  bunks  came : 

"  Give  'im  a  pipe,  Charlie,  curse  yer !  an'  stop 
'is  palaver." 

Yan  performed  a  curious  little  shrug,  rather 
of  the  back  than  of  the  shoulders,  and  shuffled 
to  the  box  which  bore  the  smoky  lamp.  Holding 
a  needle  in  the  flame,  he  dipped  it,  when  red-hot, 
into  an  old  cocoa  tin,  and  withdrew  it  with  a 
bead  of  opium  adhering  to  the  end.  Slowly 
roasting  this  over  the  lamp,  he  dropped  it  into 


66      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

the  bowl  of  the  metal  pipe  which  he  held  ready, 
where  it  burned  with  a  spirituous  blue  flame. 

"  Pass  it  over,"  said  Smith  huskily,  and  rose 
on  his  knees  with  the  assumed  eagerness  of  a 
slave  to  the  drug. 

Yan  handed  him  the  pipe,  which  he  promptly 
put  to  his  lips,  and  prepared  another  for  me. 

"Whatever  you  do,  don't  inhale  any,"  came 
Smith's  whispered  injunction. 

It  was  with  a  sense  of  nausea  greater  even 
than  that  occasioned  by  the  disgusting  atmos- 
phere of  the  den  that  I  took  the  pipe  and  pre- 
tended to  smoke.  Taking  my  cue  from  my 
friend,  I  allowed  my  head  gradually  to  sink 
lower  and  lower,  until,  within  a  few  minutes,  I 
sprawled  sideways  on  the  floor,  Smith  lying  close 
beside  me. 

"  The  ship's  sinkin',"  droned  a  voice  from  one 
of  the  bunks.     "  Look  at  the  rats." 

Yan  had  noiselessly  withdrawn,  and  I  ex- 
perienced a  curious  sense  of  isolation  from  my  fel- 
lows—  from  the  whole  of  the  Western  world. 
My  throat  was  parched  with  the  fumes,  my  head 
ached.  The  vicious  atmosphere  seemed  contami- 
nating.    I  was  as  one  dropped  — 

B   Somewhere  East  of  Suez,  where  the  best  is  like  the  worst, 
And  there  ain't  no  Ten  Commandments  and  a  man  can  raise 
a  thirst. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      67 

Smith  began  to  whisper  softly. 

"We  have  carried  it  through  successfully  so 
far,"  he  said.  "  I  don't  know  if  you  have  ob- 
served it,  but  there  is  a  stair  just  behind  you, 
half  concealed  by  a  ragged  curtain.  We  are 
near  that,  and  well  in  the  dark.  I  have  seen 
nothing  suspicious  so  far  —  or  nothing  much. 
But  if  there  was  anything  going  forward  it 
would  no  doubt  be  delayed  until  we  new  arrivals 
were  well  doped.     S-sh!  " 

He  pressed  my  arm  to  emphasize  the  warning. 
Through  my  half-closed  eyes  I  perceived  a 
shadowy  form  near  the  curtain  to  which  he  had 
referred.  I  lay  like  a  log,  but  my  muscles  were 
tensed  nervously. 

The  shadow  materialized  as  the  figure  moved 
forward  into  the  room  with  a  curiously  lithe 
movement. 

The  smoky  lamp  in  the  middle  of  the  place  af- 
forded scant  illumination,  serving  only  to  indi- 
cate sprawling  shapes  —  here  an  extended  hand, 
brown  or  yellow,  there  a  sketchy,  corpse-like  face; 
whilst  from  all  about  rose  obscene  sighings  and 
murmurings  in  far-away  voices  —  an  uncanny, 
animal  chorus.  It  was  like  a  glimpse  of  the  In- 
ferno seen  by  some  Chinese  Dante.  But  so  close 
to  us  stood  the  newcomer  that  I  was  able  to 
make  out  a  ghastly  parchment  face,  with  small, 


68      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHTJ 

oblique  eyes,  and  a  misshapen  head  crowned  with 
a  coiled  pigtail,  surmounting  a  slight,  hunched 
body.  There  was  something  unnatural,  inhu- 
man, about  that  masklike  face,  and  something 
repulsive  in  the  bent  shape  and  the  long,  yellow 
hands  clasped  one  upon  the  other. 

Fu-Manchu,  from  Smith's  account,  in  no  way 
resembled  this  crouching  apparition  with  the 
death's-head  countenance  and  lithe  movements; 
but  an  instinct  of  some  kind  told  me  that 
we  were  on  the  right  scent  —  that  this  was 
one  of  the  doctor's  servants.  How  I  came  to 
that  conclusion,  I  cannot  explain ;  but  with  no 
doubt  in  my  mind  that  this  was  a  member  of  the 
formidable  murder  group,  I  saw  the  yellow  man 
creep  nearer,  nearer,  silently,  bent  and  peering. 

He  was  watching  us. 

Of  another  circumstance  I  became  aware,  and 
a  disquieting  circumstance.  There  were  fewer 
murmurings  and  sighings  from  the  surrounding 
bunks.  The  presence  of  the  crouching  figure  had 
created  a  sudden  semi-silence  in  the  den,  which 
could  only  mean  that  some  of  the  supposed 
opium-smokers  had  merely  feigned  coma  and  the 
approach  of  coma. 

Nayland  Smith  lay  like  a  dead  man,  and  trust- 
ing to  the  darkness,  I,  too,  lay  prone  and  still, 
but  watched  the  evil  face  bending  lower  and 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 


69 


lower,  until  it  came  within  a  few  inches  of  my 
own.     I  completely  closed  my  eyes. 

Delicate  fingers  touched  my  right  eyelid.  Di- 
vining what  was  coming,  I  rolled  my  eyes  up, 
as  the  lid  was  adroitly  lifted  and  lowered  again. 
The  man  moved  away. 

I  had  saved  the  situation !  And  noting  anew 
the  hush  about  me  —  a  hush  in  which  I  fancied 
many  pairs  of  ears  listened  —  I  was  glad.  For 
just  a  moment  I  realized  fully  how,  with  the 
place  watched  back  and  front,  we  yet  were  cut 
off,  were  in  the  hands  of  Far  Easterns,  to  some 
extent  in  the  power  of  members  of  that  most 
inscrutably  mysterious  race,  the  Chinese. 

"Good,"  whispered  Smith  at  my  side.  "I 
don't  think  I  could  have  done  it.  He  took 
me  on  trust  after  that.  My  God !  what  an  awful 
face.  Petrie,  it's  the  hunchback  of  Cadby's 
notes.     Ah,  I  thought  so.     Do  you  see  that?" 

I  turned  my  eyes  round  as  far  as  was  possible. 
A  man  had  scrambled  down  from  one  of  the 
bunks  and  was  following  the  bent  figure  across 
the  room. 

They  passed  around  us  quietly,  the  little 
yellow  man  leading,  with  his  curious,  lithe  gait, 
and  the  other,  an  impassive  Chinaman,  following. 
The  curtain  was  raised,  and  I  heard  footsteps 
receding  on  the  stairs. 


fTO      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  Don't  stir/'  whispered  Smith. 

An  intense  excitement  was  clearly  upon  him, 
and  he  communicated  it  to  me.  Who  was  the 
occupant  of  the  room  above? 

Footsteps  on  the  stair,  and  the  Chinaman  re- 
appeared, recrossed  the  floor,  and  went  out.  The 
little,  bent  man  went  over  to  another  bunk,  this 
time  leading  up  the  stair  one  who  looked  like  a 
lascar. 

"  Did  you  see  his  right  hand? "  whispered 
Smith.  "A  dacoit!  They  come  here  to  report 
and  to  take  orders.  Petrie,  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  is 
up  there." 

"What  shall  we  do? "—softly. 

"  Wait.  Then  we  must  try  to  rush  the  stairs. 
It  would  be  futile  to  bring  in  the  police  first. 
He  is  sure  to  have  some  other  exit.  I  will  give 
the  word  while  the  little  yellow  devil  is  down 
here.  You  are  nearer  and  will  have  to  go  first, 
but  if  the  hunchback  follows,  I  can  then  deal 
with  him." 

Our  whispered  colloquy  was  interrupted  by  the 
return  of  the  dacoit,  who  recrossed  the  room  as 
the  Chinaman  had  done,  and  immediately  took 
his  departure.  A  third  man,  whom  Smith 
identified  as  a  Malay,  ascended  the  mysterious 
stairs,  descended,  and  went  out;  and  a  fourth, 
whose  nationality  it  was  impossible  to  determine, 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      71 

followed.  Then,  as  the  softly  moving  usher 
crossed  to  a  bunk  on  the  right  of  the  outer 
door  — 

"  Up  you  go,  Petrie,"  cried  Smith,  for  further 
delay  was  dangerous  and  further  dissimulation 
useless. 

I  leaped  to  my  feet.  Snatching  my  revolver 
from  the  pocket  of  the  rough  jacket  I  wore,  I 
bounded  to  the  stair  and  went  blundering  up  in 
complete  darkness.  A  chorus  of  brutish  cries 
clamored  from  behind,  with  a  muffled  scream  ris- 
ing above  them  all.  But  Nayland  Smith  was 
close  behind  as  I  raced  along  a  covered  gangway, 
in  a  purer  air,  and  at  my  heels  when  I  crashed 
open  a  door  at  the  end  and  almost  fell  into  the 
room  beyond. 

What  I  saw  were  merely  a  dirty  table,  with 
some  odds  and  ends  upon  it  of  which  I  was  too 
excited  to  take  note,  an  oil-lamp  swung  by  a 
brass  chain  above,  and  a  man  sitting  behind  the 
table.  But  from  the  moment  that  my  gaze  rested 
upon  the  one  who  sat  ttiere,  I  think  if  the  place 
had  been  an  Aladdin's  palace  I  should  have  had 
no  eyes  for  any  of  its  wonders. 

He  wore  a  plain  yellow  robe,  of  a  hue  almost 
identical  with  that  of  his  smooth,  hairless  coun- 
tenance. His  hands  were  large,  long  and  bony, 
and  he  held  them  knuckles  upward,  and  rested, 


72      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

his  pointed  chin  upon  their  thinness.  He  had 
a  great,  high  brow,  crowned  with  sparse,  neutral- 
colored  hair. 

Of  his  face,  as  it  looked  out  at  me  over  the 
dirty  table,  I  despair  of  writing  convincingly. 
It  was  that  of  an  archangel  of  evil,  and  it  was 
wholly  dominated  by  the  most  uncanny  eyes  that 
ever  reflected  a  human  soul,  for  they  were  nar- 
row and  long,  very  slightly  oblique,  and  of  a  bril- 
liant green.  But  their  unique  horror  lay  in  a  cer- 
tain filminess  (it  made  me  think  of  the  memhrana 
nictitans  in  a  bird)  which,  obscuring  them  as  I 
threw  wide  the  door,  seemed  to  lift  as  I  actually 
passed  the  threshold,  revealing  the  eyes  in  all 
their  brilliant  iridescence. 

I  know  that  I  stopped  dead,  one  foot  within 
the  room,  for  the  malignant  force  of  the  man 
was  something  surpassing  my  experience.  He 
was  surprised  by  this  sudden  intrusion  —  yes, 
but  no  trace  of  fear  showed  upon  that  wonderful 
face,  only  a  sort  of  pitying  contempt.  And,  as 
I  paused,  he  rose  slowly  to  his  feet,  never  re- 
moving his  gaze  from  mine. 

u  It's    Fu-Manchu! "    cried    Smith    over    my 
shoulder,  in  a  voice  that  was  almost  a  scream. 
"  It's  Fu-Manchu!    Cover  him !     Shoot  him  dead 
if—  » 
,   The  conclusion  of  that  sentence  I  never  heard. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      73 

Dr.  Fu-Manchu  reached  down  beside  the  table, 
and  the  floor  slipped  from  under  me. 

One  last  glimpse  I  had  of  the  fixed  green  eyes, 
and  with  a  scream  I  was  unable  to  repress  I 
dropped,  dropped,  dropped,  and  plunged  into  icy 
water,  which  closed  over  my  head. 

Vaguely  I  had  seen  a  spurt  of  flame,  had  heard 
another  cry  following  my  own,  a  booming  sound 
(the  trap) ,  the  flat  note  of  a  police  whistle.  But 
when  I  rose  to  the  surface  impenetrable  darkness 
enveloped  me;  I  was  spitting  filthy,  oily  liquid 
from  my  mouth,  and  fighting  down  the  black  ter- 
ror that  had  me  by  the  throat  —  terror  of  the 
darkness  about  me,  of  the  unknown  depths  be- 
neath me,  of  the  pit  into  which  I  was  cast  amid 
stifling  stenches  and  the  lapping  of  tidal  water. 

"  Smith  I"  I  cried.  .  .  .  "Help!     Help!" 

My  voice  seemed  to  beat  back  upon  me,  yet  I 
was  about  to  cry  out  again,  when,  mustering  all 
my  presence  of  mind  and  all  my  failing  courage, 
I  recognized  that  I  had  better  employment  of 
my  energies,  and  began  to  swim  straight  ahead, 
desperately  determined  to  face  all  the  horrors 
of  this  place  —  to  die  hard  if  die  I  must. 

A  drop  of  liquid  fire  fell  through  the  darkness 
and  hissed  into  the  water  beside  me! 

I  felt  that,  despite  my  resolution,  I  was  going 
macL 


74     THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

Another  fiery  drop  —  and  another! 

I  touched  a  rotting  wooden  post  and  slimy 
timbers.  I  had  reached  one  bound  of  my  watery 
prison.  More  fire  fell  from  above,  and  the  scream 
of  hysteria  quivered,  unuttered,  in  my  throat. 

Keeping  myself  afloat  with  increasing  diffi- 
culty in  my  heavy  garments,  I  threw  my  head 
back  and  raised  my  eyes. 

No  more  drops  fell,  and  no  more  drops  would 
fall ;  but  it  was  merely  a  question  of  time  for  the 
floor  to  collapse.  For  it  was  beginning  to  emit 
a  dull,  red  glow. 

The  room  above  me  was  in  flames ! 

It  was  drops  of  burning  oil  from  the  lamp,  find- 
ing passage  through  the  cracks  in  the  crazy  floor- 
ing, which  had  fallen  about  me  —  for  the  death 
trap  had  reclosed,  I  suppose,  mechanically. 

My  saturated  garments  were  dragging  mel 
down,  and  now  I  could  hear  the  flames  hungrily 
eating  into  the  ancient  rottenness  overhead. 
Shortly  that  cauldron  would  be  loosed  upon  my 
head.  The  glow  of  the  flames  grew  brighter 
.  .  .  and  showed  me  the  half-rotten  piles  uphold- 
ing the  building,  showed  me  the  tidal  mark  upon 
the  slime-coated  walls  —  showed  me  that  there 
was  no  escape! 

By  some  subterranean  duct  the  foul  place  was 
fed  from  the  Thames.     By  that  duct,  with  th£ 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      75 

outgoing  tide,  my  body  would  pass,  in  the  wake 
of  Mason,  Cadby,  and  many  another  victim ! 

Rusty  iron  rungs  were  affixed  to  one  of  the  walls 
communicating  with  a  trap  —  but  the  bottom 
three  were  missing ! 

Brighter  and  brighter  grew  the  awesome  light 

—  the  light  of  what  should  be  my  funeral  pyre  — 
reddening  the  oily  water  and  adding  a  new  dread 
to  the  whispering,  clammy  horror  of  the  pit. 
But  something  it  showed  me  ...  a  projecting 
beam  a  few  feet  above  the  water  .  .  .  and  di- 
rectly below  the  iron  ladder! 

"  Merciful  Heaven !  "  I  breathed.  "  Have  I  the 
strength  ?  " 

A  desire  for  laughter  claimed  me  with  sudden, 
all  but  irresistible  force.  I  knew  what  it  por- 
tended and  fought  it  down  —  grimly,  sternly. 

My  garments  weighed  upon  me  like  a  suit  of 
mail ;  with  my  chest  aching  dully,  my  veins  throb- 
bing to  bursting,  I  forced  tired  muscles  to  work, 
and,  every  stroke  an  agony,  approached  the  beam. 
Nearer  I  swam  .  .  .  nearer.  Its  shadow  fell 
black  upon  the  water,  which  now  had  all  the 
seeming  of  a  pool  of  blood.     Confused  sounds 

—  a  remote  uproar  —  came  to  my  ears.  I  was 
nearly  spent  ...  I  was  in  the  shadow  of  the 
beam !     If  I  could  throw  up  one  arm  .  .  . 

A  shrill  scream  sounded  far  above  me ! 


,76     THE  INSIDIOUS  DR  FU-MAN^HU 

"Petrie!  Petrie!"  (That  voice  must  be 
Smith's ! )  "  Don't  touch  the  beam !  For  God's 
sake  don't  touch  the  beam!  Keep  afloat  another 
few  seconds  and  I  can  get  to  you ! "  / 

Another  few  seconds!     Was  that  possible? 

I  managed  to  turn,  to  raise  my  throbbing 
head;  and  I  saw  the  strangest  sight  which  that 
night  yet  had  offered. 

Nayland  Smith  stood  upon  the  lowest  iron 
rung  .  .  .  supported  by  the  hideous,  crook- 
backed  Chinaman,  who  stood  upon  the  rung 
above ! 

"  I  can't  reach  him !  " 

It  was  as  Smith  hissed  the  words  despairingly 
that  I  looked  up  —  and  saw  the  Chinaman  snatch 
at  his  coiled  pigtail  and  pull  it  off!  With  it 
came  the  wig  to  which  it  was  attached;  and  the 
ghastly  yellow  mask,  deprived  of  its  fastenings, 
fell  from  position! 

"  Here !  Here !  Be  quick !  Oh !  be  quick ! 
You  can  lower  this  to  him!  Be  quick!  Be 
quick !  " 

A  cloud  of  hair  came  falling  about  the  slim 
shoulders  as  the  speaker  bent  to  pass  this  strange 
lifeline  to  Smith;  and  I  think  it  was  my  wonder 
at  knowing  her  for  the  girl  whom  that  day  I  had 
surprised  in  Cadby's  rooms  which  saved  my  life. 

For  I  not  only  kept  afloat,  but  kept  my  gaze 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      77 

upturned  to  that  beautiful,  flushed  face,  and  my 
eyes  fixed  upon  hers  —  which  were  wild  with 
fear  .  .  .  for  me! 

Smith,  by  some  contortion,  got  the  false  queue 
into  my  grasp,  and  I,  with  the  strength  of  desper- 
ation, by  that  means  seized  hold  upon  the  lowest 
rung.  With  my  friend's  arm  round  me  I  realized 
that  exhaustion  was  even  nearer  than  I  had  sup- 
posed. My  last  distinct  memory  is  of  the  burst- 
ing of  the  floor  above  and  the  big  burning  joist 
hissing  into  the  pool  beneath  us.  Its  fiery  pas- 
sage, striated  with  light,  disclosed  two  sword 
blades,  riveted,  edges  up  along  the  top  of  the 
beam  which  I  had  striven  to  reach. 

"  The  severed  fingers — "  I  said;  and  swooned. 

How  Smith  got  me  through  the  trap  I  do  not 
know  —  nor  how  we  made  our  way  through  the 
smoke  and  flames  of  the  narrow  passage  it  opened 
upon.  My  next  recollection  is  of  sitting  up,  with 
my  friend's  arm  supporting  me  and  Inspector 
Ryman  holding  a  glass  to  my  lips. 

A  bright  glare  dazzled  my  eyes.  A  crowd 
surged  about  us,  and  a  clangor  and  shouting 
drew  momentarily  nearer. 

"  It's  the  engines  coming,"  explained  Smith, 
seeing  my  bewilderment.  "  Shen-Yan's  is  in 
flames.  It  was  your  shot,  as  you  fell  through 
the  trap,  broke  the  oil-lamp." 


78      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  Is  everybody  out?  " 

"  So  far  as  we  know." 

"Fu-Manchu?" 

Smith  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  No  one  has  seen  him.  There  was  some  door 
i  at  the  back — " 

"  Do  you  think  he  may  — " 

"  No,"  he  said  tensely.  "  Not  until  I  see  him 
lying  dead  before  me  shall  I  believe  it." 

Then  memory  resumed  its  sway.  I  struggled 
to  my  feet. 

"Smith,  where  is  she?"  I  cried.  "Where  is 
she?" 

"  I  don't  know,"  he  answered. 

"  She's  given  us  the  slip,  Doctor,"  said  In- 
spector Weymouth,  as  a  fire-engine  came  swing- 
ing round  the  corner  of  the  narrow  lane.  "  So 
has  Mr.  Singapore  Charlie  —  and,  I'm  afraid, 
somebody  else.  We've  got  six  or  eight  all-sorts, 
some  awake  and  some  asleep,  but  I  suppose  we 
shall  have  to  let  'em  go  again.  Mr.  Smith  tells 
me  that  the  girl  was  disguised  as  a  Chinaman. 
I  expect  that's  why  she  managed  to  slip  away." 

I  recalled  how  I  had  been  dragged  from  the 
pit  by  the  false  queue,  how  the  strange  discov- 
ery which  had  brought  death  to  poor  Cadby  had 
brought  life  to  me,  and  I  seemed  to  remember, 
too,  that  Smith  had  dropped  it  as  he  threw  his 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      79 

arm  about  me  on  the  ladder.  Her  mask  the 
girl  might  have  retained,  but  her  wig,  I  felt  cer- 
tain, had  been  dropped  into  the  water. 

It  was  later  that  night,  when  the  brigade  still 
were  playing  upon  the  blackened  shell  of  what 
had  been  Shen-Yan's  opium-shop,  and  Smith  and 
I  were  speeding  away  in  a  cab  from  the  scene 
of  God  knows  how  many  crimes,  that  I  had  an 
idea. 

"  Smith,"  I  said,  "  did  you  bring  the  pigtail 
with  you  that  was  found  on  Cadby?" 

"  Yes.     I  had  hoped  to  meet  the  owner." 

"Have  you  got  it  now?" 

"  No.     I  met  the  owner." 

I  thrust  my  hands  deep  into  the  pockets  of  the 
big  pea-jacket  lent  to  me  by  Inspector  Ryman, 
leaning  back  in  my  corner. 

"  We  shall  never  really  excel  at  this  business," 
continued  Nayland  Smith.  "We  are  far  too 
sentimental.  I  knew  what  it  meant  to  us,  Petrie, 
what  it  meant  to  the  world,  but  I  hadn't  the 
heart.  I  owed  her  your  life  —  I  had  to  square 
the  account." 


Chapter  VII 

NIGHT  fell  on  Kedmoat.  I  glanced  from 
the  window  at  the  nocturne  in  silver  and 
green  which  lay  beneath  ine.  To  the  west 
of  the  shrubbery,  with  its  broken  canopy  of  elms 
and  beyond  the  copper  beech  which  marked  the 
center  of  its  mazes,  a  gap  offered  a  glimpse  of  the 
Waverney  where  it  swept  into  a  broad.  Faint 
bird-calls  floated  over  the  water.  These,  with 
the  whisper  of  leaves,  alone  claimed  the  ear. 

Ideal  rural  peace,  and  the  music  of  an  Eng- 
lish summer  evening;  but  to  my  eyes,  every 
shadow  holding  fantastic  terrors;  to  my  ears, 
every  sound  a  signal  of  dread.  For  the  deathful 
hand  of  Fu-Manchu  was  stretched  over  Redmoat, 
at  any  hour  to  loose  strange,  Oriental  horrors 
upon  its  inmates. 

"  Well,"  said  Nayland  Smith,  joining  me  at  the 
window,  "  we  had  dared  to  hope  him  dead,  but 
we  know  now  that  he  lives !  " 

The  Rev.  J.  D.  Eltham  coughed  nervously,  and 
I  turned,  leaning  my  elbow  upon  the  table,  and 

80 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      81 

studied  the  play  of  expression  upon  the  refined, 
sensitive  face  of  the  clergyman. 

"  You  think  I  acted  rightly  in  sending  for  you, 
Mr.  Smith?" 

Nayland  Smith  smoked  furiously. 

"Mr.  Elthain,"  he  replied,  "you  see  in  me  a 
man  groping  in  the  dark.  I  am  to-day  no  nearer 
to  the  conclusion  of  my  mission  than  upon  the 
day  when  I  left  Mandalay.  You  offer  me  a  clew ; 
I  am  here.  Your  affair,  I  believe,  stands  thus: 
A  series  of  attempted  burglaries,  or  something 
of  the  kind,  has  alarmed  your  household.  Yes- 
terday, returning  from  London  with  your 
daughter,  you  were  both  drugged  in  some  way, 
and,  occupying  a  compartment  to  yourselves,  you 
both  slept.  Your  daughter  awoke,  and  saw  some- 
one else  in  the  carriage  —  a  yellow-faced  man 
who  held  a  case  of  instruments  in  his  hands." 

"Yes;  I  was,  of  course,  unable  to  enter  into 
particulars  over  the  telephone.  The  man  was 
standing  by  one  of  the  windows.  Directly  he 
observed  that  my  daughter  was  awake,  he  stepped 
towards  her." 

"  What  did  he  do  with  the  case  in  his  hands?  " 

"  She  did  not  notice  —  or  did  not  mention  hav- 
ing noticed.  In  fact,  as  was  natural,  she  was  so 
frightened  that  she  recalls  nothing  more,  beyond 
the  fact  that  she  strove  to  arouse  me,  without 


82      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

succeeding,  felt  hands  grasp  her  shoulders  —  and 
swooned." 

"  But  someone  used  the  emergency  cord,  and 
stopped  the  train." 

"  Greba  has  no  recollection  of  having  done 
so." 

"  Hm !  Of  course,  no  yellow-faced  man  was 
on  the  train.     When  did  you  awake?  " 

"  I  wTas  aroused  by  the  guard,  but  only  when 
he  had  repeatedly  shaken  me." 

"  Upon  reaching  Great  Yarmouth  you  imme- 
diately called  up  Scotland  Yard?  You  acted 
very  wisely,  sir.     How  long  were  you  in  China?  " 

Mr.  Eltham's  start  of  surprise  was  almost 
comical. 

"  It  is  perhaps  not  strange  that  you  should  be 
aware  of  my  residence  in  China,  Mr.  Smith,"  he 
said ;  "  but  my  not  having  mentioned  it  may  seem 
so.  The  fact  is  " —  his  sensitive  face  flushed  in 
palpable  embarrassment  — "  I  left  China  under 
what  I  may  term  an  episcopal  cloud.  I  have 
lived  in  retirement  ever  since.  Unwittingly  — 
I  solemnly  declare  to  you,  Mr.  Smith,  unwit- 
tingly —  I  stirred  up  certain  deep-seated  preju- 
dices in  my  endeavors  to  do  my  duty  —  my  duty. 
I  think  you  asked  me  how  long  I  was  in  China? 
I  was  there  from  1896  until  1900  —  four  years." 

"  I  recall  the  circumstances,  Mr.  Eltham,"  said: 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      83 

Smith,  with  an  odd  note  in  his  voice.  "  I  have 
been  endeavoring  to  think  where  I  had  come 
across  the  name,  and  a  moment  ago  I  remem- 
bered.    I  am  happy  to  have  met  you,  sir." 

The  clergyman  blushed  again  like  a  girl,  and 
slightly  inclined  his  head,  with  its  scanty  fair 
hair. 

"  Has  Redmoat,  as  its  name  implies,  a  moat 
tound  it?    I  was  unable  to  see  in  the  dusk." 

"  It  remains.  Redmoat  —  a  corruption  of 
Kound  Moat  — was  formerly  a  priory,  disestab- 
lished by  the  eighth  Henry  in  1536."  His  pedan- 
tic manner  was  quaint  at  times.  "  But  the  moat 
is  no  longer  flooded.  In  fact,  we  grow  cabbages 
m  part  of  it.  If  you  refer  to  the  strategic 
strength  of  the  place  " —  he  smiled,  but  his  man- 
ner was  embarrassed  again  — "  it  is  considerable. 
I  have  barbed  wire  fencing,  and  —  other  arrange- 
ments. You  see,  it  is  a  lonelj  spot,"  he  added 
apologetically.  "And  now,  if  you  will  excuse 
me,  we  will  resume  these  gruesome  inquiries  after 
the  more  pleasant  affairs  of  dinner." 

He  left  us. 

"Who  is  our  host?"  I  asked,  as  the  door 
closed. 

Smith  smiled. 

"  You  are  wondering  what  caused  the  t  episco- 
pal cloud'?"  he  suggested.    "Well,  the  deep- 


$4      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

seated   prejudices   which    our    reverend    friend 
stirred  up  culminated  in  the  Boxer  Kisings." 

"  Good  heavens,  Smith ! "  I  said ;  for  I  could 
not  reconcile  the  diffident  personality  of  the 
clergyman  with  the  memories  which  those  words 
awakened. 

"  He  evidently  should  be  on  our  danger  list/' 
my  friend  continued  quickly ;  "  but  he  has  so  com- 
pletely effaced  himself  of  recent  years  that  I 
think  it  probable  that  someone  else  has  only  just 
recalled  his  existence  to  mind.  The  Rev.  J.  D. 
Eltham,  my  dear  Petrie,  though  he  may  be  a  poor 
hand  at  saving  souls,  at  any  rate,  has  saved  a 
score  of  Christian  women  from  death  —  and 
worse." 

"  J.  D.  Eltham  — "  I  began. 

"  Is  '  Parson  Dan ' !  "  rapped  Smith,  "  the 
i  Fighting  Missionary/  the  man  who  with  a  gar- 
rison of  a  dozen  cripples  and  a  German  doctor 
held  the  hospital  at  Nan-Yang  against  two  hun- 
dred Boxers.  That's  who  the  Rev.  J.  D.  Eltham 
is!  But  what  is  he  up  to,  now,  I  have  yet  to 
find  out.  He  is  keeping  something  back  — 
something  which  has  made  him  an  object  of  in- 
terest to  Young  China !  " 

During  dinner  the  matters  responsible  for  our 
presence  there  did  not  hold  priority  in  the  con- 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      85 

versation.     In  fact,  this,  for  the  most  part,  con- 
sisted in  light  talk  of  books  and  theaters. 

Greba  Eltham,  the  clergyman's  daughter,  was 
a  charming  young  hostess,  and  she,  with  Vernon 
Denby,    Mr.    Eltham's    nephew,    completed   the 
.party.     No  doubt  the  girPs  presence,  in  part,  at 
/any  rate,  led  us  to  refrain  from  the  subject  up- 
permost in  our  minds. 

These  little  pools  of  calm  dotted  along  the  tor- 
rential course  of  the  circumstances  which  were 
bearing  my  friend  and  I  onward  to  unknown 
issues  form  pleasant,  sunny  spots  in  my  dark 
recollections. 

So  I  shall  always  remember,  with  pleasure, 
that  dinner-party  at  Eedmoat,  in  the  old-world 
dining-room;  it  was  so  very  peaceful,  so  almost 
grotesquely  calm.  For  I,  within  my  very  bones, 
felt  it  to  be  the  calm  before  the  storm. 

When,  later,  we  men  passed  to  the  library,  we 
seemed  to  leave  that  atmosphere  behind  us. 

"  Eedmoat,"  said  the  Rev.  J.  D.  Eltham,  "  has 
latterly  become  the  theater  of  strange  doings." 

He  stood  on  the  hearth-rug.  A  shaded  lamp 
upon  the  big  table  and  candles  in  ancient  sconces 
upon  the  mantelpiece  afforded  dim  illumination. 
Mr.  Eltham's  nephew,  Vernon  Denby,  lolled 
smoking  on  the  window-seat,  and  I  sat  near  to 


S6     THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

him.  Nayland  Smith  paced  restlessly  up  and 
down  the  room. 

"  Some  months  ago,  almost  a  year,"  continued 
the  clergyman,  "  a  burglarious  attempt  was  made 
upon  the  house.  There  was  an  arrest,  and  the 
man  confessed  that  he  had  been  tempted  by  my 
collection."  He  waved  his  hand  vaguely  to- 
wards the  several  cabinets  about  the  shadowed 
room. 

"  It  was  shortly  afterwards  that  I  allowed  my 
hobby  for  —  playing  at  forts  to  run  away  with; 
me."  He  smiled  an  apology.  "  I  virtually 
fortified  Redmoat  —  against  trespassers  of  any 
kind,  I  mean.  You  have  seen  that  the  house 
stands  upon  a  kind  of  large  mound.  This  is 
artificial,  being  the  buried  ruins  of  a  Roman  out- 
work ;  a  portion  of  the  ancient  castrum."  Again 
he  waved  indicatively,  this  time  toward  the 
window. 

"  When  it  was  a  priory  it  was  completely  iso- 
lated and  defended  by  its  environing  moat.  To- 
day it  is  completely  surrounded  by  barbed-wire 
fencing.  Below  this  fence,  on  the  east,  is  a  nar- 
row stream,  a  tributary  of  the  Waverney;  on 
the  north  and  west,  the  high  road,  but  nearly 
twenty  feet  below,  the  banks  being  perpendicular. 
On  the  south  is  the  remaining  part  of  the  moat 
■ —  now  my  kitchen  garden ;  but  from  there  up  to 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      87 

the  level  of  the  house  is  nearly  twenty  feet 
again,  and  the  barbed  wire  must  also  be  counted 
with. 

"  The  entrance,  as  you  know,  is  by  the  way  of 
a  kind  of  cutting.  There  is  a  gate  at  the  foot 
of  the  steps  (they  are  some  of  the  original  steps 
of  the  priory,  Dr.  Petrie),  and  another  gate  at 
the  head." 

He  paused,  and  smiled  around  upon  us  boy- 
ishly. 

"  My  secret  defenses  remain  to  be  mentioned,'' 
he  resumed ;  and,  opening  a  cupboard,  he  pointed 
to  a  row  of  batteries,  with  a  number  of  electric 
bells  upon  the  wall  behind.  "  The  more  vulner- 
able spots  are  connected  at  night  with  these 
bells,"  he  said  triumphantly.  "  Any  attempt  to 
scale  the  barbed  wire  or  to  force  either  gate  would 
set  two  or  more  of  these  ringing.  A  stray  cow 
raised  one  false  alarm,"  he  added,  "  and  a  care- 
less rook  threw  us  into  a  perfect  panic  on  an- 
other occasion." 

He  was  so  boyish  —  so  nervously  brisk  and 
acutely  sensitive  —  that  it  was  difficult  to  see  in 
him  the  hero  of  the  Nan- Yang  hospital.  I  could 
only  suppose  that  he  had  treated  the  Boxers' 
raid  in  the  same  spirit  wherein  he  met  would-be 
trespassers  within  the  precincts  of  Redmoat.  It 
had  been  an  escapade,  of  which  he  was  after- 


88     THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

wards  ashamed,  as,  faintly,  he  was  ashamed  of 
his  "  fortifications." 

"  But,"  rapped  Smith,  "  it  was  not  the  visit 
of  the  burglar  which  prompted  these  elaborate 
precautions." 

Mr.  Eltham  coughed  nervously. 

"  I  am  aware,"  he  said,  "  that,  having  invoked 
official  aid,  I  must  be  perfectly  frank  with  you, 
Mr.  Smith.  It  was  the  burglar  who  was  re- 
sponsible for  my  continuing  the  wire  fence  all 
round  the  grounds,  but  the  electrical  contrivance 
followed,  later,  as  a  result  of  several  disturbed 
nights.  My  servants  grew  uneasy  about  someone 
who  came,  they  said,  after  dusk.  No  one  could 
describe  this  nocturnal  visitor,  but  certainly  we 
found  traces.     I  must  admit  that. 

"  Then  —  I  received  what  I  may  term  a  warn- 
ing. My  position  is  a  peculiar  one  —  a  peculiar 
one.  My  daughter,  too,  saw  this  prowling  per- 
son, over  by  the  Roman  castrum,  and  described 
him  as  a  yellow  man.  It  was  the  incident  in 
the  train,  following  closely  upon  this  other,  which 
led  me  to  speak  to  the  police,  little  as  I  desired 
to  —  er  —  court  publicity." 

Nayland  Smith  walked  to  a  window,  and 
looked  out  across  the  sloping  lawn  to  where  the 
shadows  of  the  shrubbery  lay.  A  dog  was  howl- 
ing dismally  somewhere. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      89 

"  Your  defenses  are  not  impregnable,  after  all, 
then?"  he  jerked.  "On  our  way  up  this  even- 
ing Mr.  Denby  was  telling  us  about  the  death  of 
his  collie  a  few  nights  ago." 

The  clergyman's  face  clouded. 

"  That,  certainly,  was  alarming,"  he  confessed. 
"  I  had  been  in  London  for  a  few  days,  and  dur- 
ing my  absence  Vernon  came  down,  bringing 
the  dog  with  him.  On  the  night  of  his  arrival 
it  ran,  barking,  into  the  shrubbery  yonder,  and 
did  not  come  out.  He  went  to  look  for  it  with  a 
lantern,  and  found  it  lying  among  the  bushes,, 
quite  dead.  The  poor  creature  had  been  dread- 
fully beaten  about  the  head." 

"  The  gates  were  locked,"  Denby  interrupted, 
"  and  no  one  could  have  got  out  of  the  grounds 
without  a  ladder  and  someone  to  assist  him. 
But  there  was  so  sign  of  a  living  thing  about. 
Edwards  and  I  searched  every  corner." 

"  How  long  has  that  other  dog  taken  to  howl- 
ing?" inquired  Smith. 

"  Only  since  Rex's  death,"  said  Denby  quickly. 

"  It  is  my  mastiff,"  explained  the  clergyman, 
"and  he  is  confined  in  the  yard.  He  is  never 
allowed  on  this  side  of  the  house." 

Nayland  Smith  wandered  aimlessly  about  the 
library. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  have  to  press  you,  Mr.  Eltham," 


90      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

he  said,  "  but  what  was  the  nature  of  the  warn- 
ing to  which  you  referred,  and  from  whom  did 
it  come?  " 

Mr.  Eltham  hesitated  for  a  long  time. 

"  I  have  been  so  unfortunate,"  he  said  at  last, 
"in  my  previous  efforts,  that  I  feel  assured  of 
your  hostile  criticism  when  I  tell  you  that  I  am 
contemplating  an  immediate  return  to  Ho-Nan !  V 

Smith  jumped  round  upon  him  as  though 
moved  by  a  spring. 

"  Then  you  are  going  back  to  Nan -Yang?  "  he 
cried.  "  Now  I  understand !  Why  have  you 
not  told  me  before?  That  is  the  key  for  which 
I  have  vainly  been  seeking.  Your  troubles  date 
from  the  time  of  your  decision  to  return?" 

"  Yes,  I  must  admit  it,"  confessed  the  clergy- 
man diffidently. 

"  And  your  warning  came  from  China?  " 

*  It  did." 

"  From  a  Chinaman?  " 

"  From  the  Mandarin,  Yen-Sun- Yat." 

" Yen-Sun- Yat !  My  good  sir!  He  warned 
you  to  abandon  your  visit?  And  you  reject  his 
advice?  Listen  to  me."  Smith  was  intensely 
excited  now,  his  eyes  bright,  his  lean  figure  curi- 
ously strung  up,  alert.  "  The  Mandarin  Yen- 
Sun- Yat  is  one  of  the  seven ! " 

"  I  do  not  follow  you,  Mr.  Smith." 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      91 

"  No,  sir.  China  to-day  is  not  the  China  of 
'98.  It  is  a  huge  secret  machine,  and  Ho-Nan 
one  of  its  most  important  wheels!  But  if,  as 
I  understand,  this  official  is  a  friend  of  yours, 
believe  me,  he  has  saved  your  life!  You  would 
I  be  a  dead  man  now  if  it  were  not  for  your  friend 
in  China!  My  dear  sir,  you  must  accept  his 
counsel." 

Then,  for  the  first  time  since  I  had  made  his 
acquaintance,  "  Parson  Dan "  showed  through 
the  surface  of  the  Rev.  J.  D.  Eltham. 

"  No,  sir !  "  replied  the  clergyman  —  and  the 
change  in  his  voice  was  startling.  "  I  am  called 
to  Nan- Yang.     Only  One  may  deter  my  going." 

The  admixture  of  deep  spiritual  reverence  with 
intense  truculence  in  his  voice  was  dissimilar 
from  anything  I  ever  had  heard. 

"  Then  only  One  can  protect  you,"  cried  Smith, 
"  for,  by  Heaven,  no  man  will  be  able  to  do  so ! 
Your  presence  in  Ho-Nan  can  do  no  possible 
good  at  present.  It  must  do  harm.  Your  ex- 
perience in  1900  should  be  fresh  in  your  memory." 

"  Hard  words,  Mr.  Smith." 

"  The  class  of  missionary  work  which  you 
favor,  sir,  is  injurious  to  international  peace. 
At  the  present  moment,  Ho-Nan  is  a  barrel  of 
gunpowder;  you  would  be  the  lighted  match.  I 
do  not  willingly  stand  between  any  man  and 


92      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

what  he  chooses  to  consider  his  duty,  but  I  insist 
that  you  abandon  your  visit  to  the  interior  of 
China !" 

"  You  insist,  Mr.  Smith?  " 

"  As  your  guest,  I  regret  the  necessity  for  re- 
minding you  that  I  hold  authority  to  enforce  it." 

Denby  fidgeted  uneasily.  The  tone  of  the  con- 
versation was  growing  harsh  and  the  atmosphere 
of  the  library  portentous  with  brewing  storms. 

There  was  a  short,  silent  interval. 

"  This  is  what  I  had  feared  and  expected,"  said 
the  clergyman.  "  This  was  my  reason  for  not 
seeking  official  protection." 

"  The  phantom  Yellow  Peril/'  said  Nayland 
Smith,  "  to-day  materializes  under  the  very  eyes 
of  the  Western  world." 

"  The  <  Yellow  Peril ' !  " 

"  You  scoff,  sir,  and  so  do  others.  We  take 
the  proffered  right  hand  of  friendship  nor  inquire 
if  the  hidden  left  holds  a  knife!  The  peace 
of  the  world  is  at  stake,  Mr.  Eltham.  Un- 
knowingly, you  tamper  with  tremendous  issues." 

Mr.  Eltham  drew  a  deep  breath,  thrusting  both 
hands  in  his  pockets. 

"  You  are  painfully  f rank,T\Ir.  Smith,"  he  said ; 
"but  I  like  you  for  it.  I  will  reconsider  my 
position  and  talk  this  matter  over  again  with 
you  to-morrow." 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      93 

Thus,  then,  the  storm  blew  over.  Yet  I  had 
never  experienced  such  an  overwhelming  sense 
of  imminent  peril  —  of  a  sinister  presence  —  as 
oppressed  me  at  that  moment.  The  very  at- 
mosphere of  Eedmoat  was  impregnated  with 
Eastern  devilry ;  it  loaded  the  air  like  some  evil 
perfume.  And  then,  through  the  silence,  cut  a 
throbbing  scream  —  the  scream  of  a  woman  in 
direst  fear. 

"  My  God,  it's  Greba!  "  whispered  Mr.  Elthanu 


Chapter  VIII 

IN  what  order  we  dashed  down  to  the  draw- 
ing-room I  cannot  recall.  But  none  was  be* 
fore  me  when  I  leaped  over  the  threshold  and 
saw  Miss  Eltham  prone  by  the  French  windows. 

These  were  closed  and  bolted,  and  she  lay  with 
hands  outstretched  in  the  alcove  which  they 
formed.  I  bent  over  her.  Nayland  Smith  was 
at  my  elbow. 

"  Get  my  bag,"  I  said.  "  She  has  swooned.  It 
is  nothing  serious." 

Her  father,  pale  and  wide-eyed,  hovered  about 
me,  muttering  incoherently;  but  I  managed  to 
reassure  him;  and  his  gratitude  when,  I  having 
administered  a  simple  restorative,  the  girl  sighed 
shudderingly  and  opened  her  eyes,  was  quite 
pathetic. 

I  would  permit  no  questioning  at  that  time, 
and  on  her  father's  arm  she  retired  to  her  own 
rooms. 

It  was  some  fifteen  minutes  later  that  her  mes- 
sage was  brought  to  me.  I  followed  the  maid 
to   a   quaint    little   octagonal    apartment,   and 

94 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      95 

Greba  Eltham  stood  before  me,  the  candlelight 
caressing  the  soft  curves  of  her  face  and  gleam- 
ing in  the  meshes  of  her  rich  brown  hair. 

When  she  had  answered  my  first  question  she 
hesitated  in  pretty  confusion. 

"  We  are  anxious  to  know  what  alarmed  you, 
Miss  Eltham." 

She  bit  her  lip  and  glanced  with  apprehen- 
sion towards  the  window. 

"  I  am  almost  afraid  to  tell  father,"  she  began 
rapidly.  "  He  will  think  me  imaginative,  but 
you  have  been  so  kind.  It  was  two  green  eyes! 
Oh!  Dr.  Petrie,  they  looked  up  at  me  from  the 
steps  leading  to  the  lawn.  And  they  shone  like 
the  eyes  of  a  cat." 

The  words  thrilled  me  strangely. 

"  Are  you  sure  it  was  not  a  cat,  Miss  Eltham?  " 

"  The  eyes  were  too  large,  Dr.  Petrie.  There 
was  something  dreadful,  most  dreadful,  in  their 
appearance.  I  feel  foolish  and  silly  for  having 
fainted,  twice  in  two  days!  But  the  suspense 
is  telling  upon  me,  I  suppose.  Father  thinks  " 
—  she  was  becoming  charmingly  confidential,  as 
a  woman  often  will  with  a  tactful  physician  — 
"  that  shut  up  here  we  are  safe  from  —  whatever 
threatens  us."  I  noted,  with  concern,  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  nervous  shudder.  "  But  since  our 
return  someone  else  has  been  in  Redmoat ! " 


96      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"Whatever  do  you  mean,  Miss  Elthani?" 

"  Oh !  I  don't  quite  know  what  I  do  mean, 
Dr.  Petrie.  What  does  it  all  mean?  Vernon 
has  been  explaining  to  me  that  some  awful 
Chinaman  is  seeking  the  life  of  Mr.  Nayland 
Smith.  But  if  the  same  man  wants  to  kill  my 
father,  why  has  he  not  done  so?  " 

"  I  am  afraid  you  puzzle  me." 

"  Of  course,  I  must  do  so.  But  —  the  man  in 
the  train.  He  could  have  killed  us  both  quite 
easily !  And  —  last  night  someone  was  in 
father's  room." 

"  In  his  room !  " 

"  I  could  not  sleep,  and  I  heard  something 
moving.  My  room  is  the  next  one.  I  knocked 
on  the  wall  and  woke  father.  There  was  noth- 
ing ;  so  I  said  it  was  the  howling  of  the  dog  that 
had  frightened  me." 

"  How  could  anyone  get  into  his  room?" 

"  I  cannot  imagine.  But  I  am  not  sure  it  was 
a  man." 

"  Miss  Eltham,  you  alarm  me.  What  do  you 
suspect?  " 

"  You  must  think  me  hysterical  and  silly,  but 
whilst  father  and  I  have  been  away  from  Ked- 
moat  perhaps  the  usual  precautions  have  been 
neglected.  Is  there  any  creature,  any  large 
creature,  which  could  climb  up  the  wall  to  the 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      97 

window?  Do  you  know  of  anything  with  a  long, 
thin  body?  " 

For  a  moment  I  offered  no  reply,  studying 
the  girl's  pretty  face,  her  eager,  blue-gray  eyes 
widely  opened  and  fixed  upon  mine.  She  was 
not  of  the  neurotic  type,  with  her  clear  complex- 
ion and  sun-kissed  neck;  her  arms,  healthily 
toned  by  exposure  to  the  country  airs,  were 
rounded  and  firm,  and  she  had  the  agile  shape 
of  a  young  Diana  with  none  of  the  anaemic 
languor  which  breeds  morbid  dreams.  She  was 
frightened ;  yes,  who  would  not  have  been  ?  But 
the  mere  idea  of  this  thing  which  she  believed  to 
be  in  Redmoat,  without  the  apparition  of  the 
green  eyes,  must  have  prostrated  a  victim  of 
"  nerves." 

"  Have  you  seen  such  a  creature,  Miss  Elt- 
ham?" 

She  hesitated  again,  glancing  down  and  press- 
ing her  finger-tips  together. 

"  As  father  awoke  and  called  out  to  know  why 
I  knocked,  I  glanced  from  my  window.  The 
moonlight  threw  half  the  lawn  into  shadow,  and 
just  disappearing  in  this  shadow  was  something 
—  something  of  a  brown  color,  marked  with 
sections !  " 

"  What  size  and  shape?  " 

"  It  moved  so  quickly  I  could  form  no  idea  of 


08      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

its  shape;  but  I  saw  quite  six  feet  of  it  flash 
across  the  grass ! " 

"  Did  you  hear  anything?  " 

"A  swishing  sound  in  the  shrubbery,  then 
nothing  more." 

She  met  my  eyes  expectantly.  Her  confidence 
in  my  powers  of  understanding  and  sympathy 
was  gratifying,  though  I  knew  that  I  but  oc- 
cupied the  position  of  a  father-confessor. 

"  Have  you  any  idea,"  I  said,  "  how  it  came 
about  that  you  awoke  in  the  train  yesterday 
whilst  your  father  did  not?  " 

"  We  had  coffee  at  a  refreshment-room ;  it 
must  have  been  drugged  in  some  way.  I  scarcely 
tasted  mine,  the  flavor  was  so  awful ;  but  father 
is  an  old  traveler  and  drank  the  whole  of  his 
cupful ! " 

Mr.  Eltham's  voice  called  from  below. 

"  Dr.  Petrie,"  said  the  girl  quickly,  "  what  do 
you  think  they  want  to  do  to  him?" 

"  Ah !  "  I  replied,  "  I  wish  I  knew  that." 

"  Will  you  think  over  what  I  have  told  you? 
For  I  do  assure  you  there  is  something  here  in 
Eedmoat  —  something  that  comes  and  goes  in 
spite  of  father's  '  fortifications ? !  Caesar  knows* 
there  is.  Listen  to  him.  He  drags  at  his  chain 
so  that  I  wonder  he  does  not  break  it." 

As  we  passed  downstairs  the  howling  of  the 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      99 

mastiff  sounded  eerily  through  the  house,  as  did 
the  clank-clank  of  the  tightening  chain  as  he 
threw  the  weight  of  his  big  body  upon  it. 

I  sat  in  Smith's  room  that  night  for  some  time, 
he  pacing  the  floor  smoking  and  talking. 

"  Eltham  has  influential  Chinese  friends,"  he 
said ;  "  but  they  dare  not  have  him  in  Nan- Yang 
at  present.  He  knows  the  country  as  he  knows 
Norfolk;  he  would  see  things! 

"  His  precautions  here  have  baffled  the  enemy, 
I  think.  The  attempt  in  the  train  points  to  an 
anxiety  to  waste  no  opportunity.  But  whilst 
Eltham  was  absent  (he  was  getting  his  outfit  in 
London,  by  the  way)  they  have  been  fixing  some 
second  string  to  their  fiddle  here.  In  case  no 
opportunity  offered  before  he  returned,  they  pro- 
vided for  getting  at  him  here !  " 

"But  how,  Smith?" 

"  That's  the  mystery.  But  the  dead  dog  in 
the  shrubbery  is  significant." 

"  Do  you  think  some  emissary  of  Fu-Manchu 
is  actually  inside  the  moat?  " 

"  It's  impossible,  Petrie.  You  are  thinking  of 
secret  passages,  and  so  forth.  There  are  none. 
Eltham  has  measured  up  every  foot  of  the  place. 
There  isn't  a  rathole  left  unaccounted  for;  and 
as  for  a  tunnel  under  the  moat,  the  house  stands 
on  a  solid  mass  of  Roman  masonry,  a  former 


100      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

camp  of  Hadrian's  time.  I  have  seen  a  very  old 
plan  of  the  Round  Moat  Priory  as  it  was  called. 
There  is  no  entrance  and  no  exit  save  by  the 
steps.     So  how  was  the  dog  killed?  " 

I  knocked  out  my  pipe  on  a  bar  of  the  grate. 

"  We  are  in  the  thick  of  it  here,"  I  said. 

"We  are  always  in  the  thick  of  it,"  replied 
Smith.  "  Our  danger  is  no  greater  in  Norfolk 
than  in  London.  But  what  do  they  want  to  do? 
That  man  in  the  train  with  the  case  of  instru- 
ments —  wliat  instruments  ?  Then  the  appari- 
tion of  the  green  eyes  to-night.  Can  they  have 
been  the  eyes  of  Fu-Manchu?  Is  some  peculiarly 
unique  outrage  contemplated  —  something  call- 
ing for  the  presence  of  the  master?  " 

"  He  may  have  to  prevent  Eltham's  leaving 
England  without  killing  him." 

"  Quite  so.  He  probably  has  instructions  to 
be  merciful.  But  God  help  the  victim  of  Chinese 
mercy !  " 

I  went  to  my  own  room  then.  But  I  did  not 
even  undress,  refilling  my  pipe  and  seating  my- 
self at  the  open  window.  Having  looked  upon 
the  awful  Chinese  doctor,  the  memory  of  his  face, 
with  its  filmed  green  eyes,  could  never  leave  me. 
The  idea  that  he  might  be  near  at  that  moment 
was  a  poor  narcotic. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      101 

The  howling  and  baying  of  the  mastiff  was  al- 
most continuous. 

When  all  else  in  Redmoat  was  still  the  dog's 
mournful  note  yet  rose  on  the  night  with  some- 
thing menacing  in  it.  I  sat  looking  out  across 
the  sloping  turf  to  where  the  shrubbery  showed 
as  a  black  island  in  a  green  sea.  The  moon 
swam  in  a  cloudless  sky,  and  the  air  was  warm 
and  fragrant  with  country  scents. 

It  was  in  the  shrubbery  that  Denby's  collie 
had  met  his  mysterious  death  —  that  the  thing 
seen  by  Miss  Eltham  had  disappeared.  What 
uncanny  secret  did  it  hold? 

Caesar  became  silent. 

As  the  stopping  of  a  clock  will  sometimes 
awaken  a  sleeper,  the  abrupt  cessation  of  that 
distant  howling,  to  which  I  had  grown  accus- 
tomed, now  recalled  me  from  a  world  of  gloomy 
imaginings. 

I  glanced  at  my  watch  in  the  moonlight.  It 
was  twelve  minutes  past  midnight. 

As  I  replaced  it  the  dog  suddenly  burst  out 
afresh,  but  now  in  a  tone  of  sheer  anger.  He 
was  alternately  howling  and  snarling  in  a  way 
that  sounded  new  to  me.  The  crashes,  as  he 
leapt  to  the  end  of  his  chain,  shook  the  building 
in  which  he  was  confined.     It  was  as  I  stood  up 


102     THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

to  lean  from  the  window  and  commanded  a  view 
of  the  corner  of  the  house  that  he  broke  loose. 

With  a  hoarse  bay  he  took  that  decisive  leap, 
and  I  heard  his  heavy  body  fall  against  the 
wooden  wall.  There  followed  a  strange,  gut- 
tural cry  .  .  .  and  the  growling  of  the  dog  died 
away  at  the  rear  of  the  house.  He  was  out! 
But  that  guttural  note  had  not  come  from  the 
throat  of  a  dog.     Of  what  was  he  in  pursuit? 

At  which  point  his  mysterious  quarry  entered, 
the  shrubbery  I  do  not  know.  I  only  know  that 
I  saw  absolutely  nothing,  until  Caesar's  lithe 
shape  was  streaked  across  the  lawn,  and  the  great 
creature  went  crashing  into  the  undergrowth. 

Then  a  faint  sound  above  and  to  my  right  told 
me  that  I  was  not  the  only  spectator  of  the  scene. 
I  leaned  farther  from  the  window. 

"  Is  that  you,  Miss  Eltham?  "  I  asked. 

"  Oh,  Dr.  Petrie ! "  she  said.  "  I  am  so  glad 
you  are  awake.  Can  we  do  nothing  to  help? 
Csesar  will  be  killed." 

"  Did  you  see  what  he  went  after?  " 

"  No,"  she  called  back,  and  drew  her  breath! 
sharply. 

For  a  strange  figure  went  racing  across  the 
grass.  It  was  that  of  a  man  in  a  blue  dressing* 
gown,  who  held  a  lantern  high  before  him,  and  a 
revolver  in  his  right  hand.     Coincident  with  my 


^HE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      103 

recognition  of  Mr.  Eltham  lie  leaped,  plunging 
into  the  shrubbery  in  the  wake  of  the  dog. 

But  the  night  held  yet  another  surprise;  for 
Nayland  Smith's  voice  came: 

"  Come  back !     Come  back,  Eltham !  V 

I  ran  out  into  the  passage  and  downstairs. 
The  front  door  was  open.  A  terrible  conflict 
waged  in  the  shrubbery,  between  the  mastiff  and 
something  else.  Passing  round  to  the  lawn,  I 
met  Smith  fully  dressed.  He  just  had  dropped 
from  a  first-floor  window. 

"  The  man  is  mad !  "  he  snapped.  "  Heaven 
knows  what  lurks  there!  He  should  not  have 
gone  alone ! " 

Together  we  ran  towards  the  dancing  light  of 
Eltham's  lantern.  The  sounds  of  conflict  ceased 
suddenly.  Stumbling  over  stumps  and  lashed 
by  low-sweeping  branches,  we  struggled  forward 
to  where  the  clergyman  knelt  amongst  the  bushes. 
He  glanced  up  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  as  was  re- 
vealed by  the  dim  light. 

"  Look !  "  he  cried. 

The  body  of  the  dog  lay  at  his  feet. 

It  was  pitiable  to  think  that  the  fearless  brute 
should  have  met  his  death  in  such  a  fashion, 
and  when  I  bent  and  examined  him  I  was  glad 
to  find  traces  of  life. 

"  Drag  him  out.     He  is  not  dead/'  I  said. 


104      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"And  hurry,"  rapped  Smith,  peering  about 
him  right  and  left. 

Se  we  three  hurried  from  that  haunted  place, 
dragging  the  dog  with  us.  We  were  not  mo- 
lested. No  sound  disturbed  the  now  perfect 
stillness. 

By  the  lawn  edge  we  came  upon  Denby,  half 
dressed;  and  almost  immediately  Edwards  the 
gardener  also  appeared.  The  white  faces  of  the 
house  servants  showed  at  one  window,  and  Miss 
Eltham  called  to  me  from  her  room: 

"  Is  he  dead?  " 

"  No,"  I  replied ;  "  only  stunned." 

We  carried  the  dog  round  to  the  yard,  and  I 
examined  his  head.  It  had  been  struck  by  some 
heavy  blunt  instrument,  but  the  skull  was  not 
broken.     It  is  hard  to  kill  a  mastiff. 

"  Will  you  attend  to  him,  Doctor? "  asked 
Eltham.  "We  must  see  that  the  villain  does 
not  escape." 

His  face  was  grim  and  set.  This  was  a  dif- 
ferent man  from  the  diffident  clergyman  we 
knew :  this  was  "  Parson  Dan  "  again. 

I  accepted  the  care  of  the  canine  patient,  and 
Eltham  with  the  others  went  off  for  more  lights 
to  search  the  shrubbery.  As  I  was  washing  a 
bad  wound  between  the  mastiff's  ears,  Miss  Elt- 
ham joined  me.     It  was  the  sound  of  her  voice, 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      105 

I  think,  rather  than  my  more  scientific  ministra- 
tion, which  recalled  Csesar  to  life.  For,  as  she 
entered,  his  tail  wagged  feebly,  and  a  moment 
later  he  struggled  to  his  feet  —  one  of  which  was 
injured. 

Having  provided  for  his  immediate  needs,  I 
left  him  in  charge  of  his  young  mistress  and 
joined  the  search  party.  They  had  entered  the 
shrubbery  from  four  points  and  drawn  blank. 

"  There  is  absolutely  nothing  there,  and  no 
one  can  possibly  have  left  the  grounds,"  said 
Eltham  amazedly. 

We  stood  on  the  lawn  looking  at  one  another, 
Nayland  Smith,  angry  but  thoughtful,  tugging 
at  the  lobe  of  his  left  ear,  as  was  his  habit  in 
moments  of  perplexity. 


Chapter  IX 

WITH  the  first  coming  of  light,  Eltham, 
Smith  and  I  tested  the  electrical  con- 
trivances from  every  point.  They 
were  in  perfect  order.  It  became  more  and  more 
incomprehensible  how  anyone  could  have  entered 
and  quitted  Kedmoat  during  the  night.  The 
barbed- wire  fencing  was  intact,  and  bore  no  signs 
of  having  been  tampered  with. 

Smith  and  I  undertook  an  exhaustive  examina- 
tion of  the  shrubbery. 

At  the  spot  where  we  had  found  the  dog,  some 
five  paces  to  the  west  of  the  copper  beech,  the 
grass  and  weeds  were  trampled  and  the  surround- 
ing laurels  and  rhododendrons  bore  evidence  of 
a  struggle,  but  mo  human  footprint  could  be 
found. 

"  The  ground  is  dry,"  said  Smith.  "  We  can- 
not expect  much." 

"  In  my  opinion,"  I  said,  "  someone  tried  to 
get  at  Caesar;  his  presence  is  dangerous.  And 
in  his  rage  he  broke  loose." 

"  I  think  so,  too,"  agreed  Smith.     "  But  why 

106 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      107 

did  this  person  make  for  here?  And  how,  hav- 
ing mastered  the  dog,  get  out  of  Redmoat?  I 
am  open  to  admit  the  possibility  of  someone's 
getting  in  during  the  day  whilst  the  gates  are 
open,  and  hiding  until  dusk.  But  how  in  the 
name  of  all  that's  wonderful  does  he  get  out? 
He  must  possess  the  attributes  of  a  bird." 

I  thought  of  Greba  Eltham's  statements,  re- 
minding my  friend  of  her  description  of  the  thing 
which  she  had  seen  passing  into  this  strangely 
haunted  shrubbery. 

"  That  line  of  speculation  soon  takes  us  out 
of  our  depth,  Petrie,"  he  said.  "  Let  us  stick 
to  what  we  can  understand,  and  that  may  help 
us  to  a  clearer  idea  of  what,  at  present,  is  in- 
comprehensible. My  view  of  the  case  to  date 
stands  thus: 

"  ( 1 )  Eltham,  having  rashly  decided  to  return 
to  the  interior  of  China,  is  warned  by  an  official 
whose  friendship  he  has  won  in  some  way  to 
stay  in  England. 

"  (2)  I  know  this  official  for  one  of  the  Yellow 
group  represented  in  England  by  Dr.  Fu- 
Manchu. 

"  (3)  Several  attempts,  of  which  we  know  but 
little,  to  get  at  Eltham  are  frustrated,  presum- 
ably by  his  curious  <  defenses.'  An  attempt  in 
a  train  fails  owing  to  Miss  Eltham's  distaste 


108      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

for  refreshment-room  coffee.  An  attempt  here 
fails  owing  to  her  insomnia. 

"  (4)  During  Eltham's  absence  from  Redmoat 
certain  preparations  are  made  for  his  return. 
These  lead  to: 

".  (a)  The  death  of  Denby's  collie ; 

"  (b)  The  things  heard  and  seen  by  Miss  Elt- 
ham; 

"  (c)  The  things  heard  and  seen  by  us  all  last 
night. 

"  So  that  the  clearing  up  of  my  fourth  point 
—  id  est,  the  discovery  of  the  nature  of  these 
preparations  —  becomes  our  immediate  concern. 
The  prime  object  of  these  preparations,  Petrie, 
was  to  enable  someone  to  gain  access  to  Eltham's 
room.  The  other  events  are  incidental.  The 
dogs  had  to  be  got  rid  of,  for  instance ;  and  there 
is  no  doubt  that  Miss  Eltham's  wakefulness 
saved  her  father  a  second  time." 

"  But  from  what?  For  Heaven's  sake,  from 
what?" 

Smith  glanced  about  into  the  light-patched 
shadows. 

"  From  a  visit  by  someone  —  perhaps  by  Fu- 
Manchu  himself,"  he  said  in  a  hushed  voice. 
"  The  object  of  that  visit  I  hope  we  may  never 
learn;  for  that  would  mean  that  it  had  been 
achieved." 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      109 

"  Smith,"  I  said,  u  I  do  not  altogether  under- 
stand you;  but  do  you  think  he  has  some  in- 
credible creature  hidden  here  somewhere?  It 
would  be  like  him." 

"  I  begin  to  suspect  the  most  formidable  crea- 1 
ture  in  the  known  world  to  be  hidden  here.     I 
believe    Fu-Manchu   is   somewhere    inside   Red- 
moat  ! " 

Our  conversation  was  interrupted  at  this  point 
by  Denby,  who  came  to  report  that  he  had  ex- 
amined the  moat,  the  roadside,  and  the  bank  of 
the  stream,  but  found  no  footprints  or  clew  of 
any  kind. 

"  No  one  left  the  grounds  of  Redmoat  last 
night,  I  think,"  he  said.  And  his  voice  had  awe 
in  it. 

That  day  dragged  slowly  on.  A  party  of  us 
scoured  the  neighborhood  for  traces  of  strangers, 
examining  every  foot  of  the  Roman  ruin  hard 
by ;  but  vainly. 

"  May  not  your  presence  here  induce  Fu-Man- 
chu to  abandon  his  plans?"  I  asked  Smith. 

"  I  think  not,"  he  replied.  "  You  see,  unless 
we  can  prevail  upon  him,  Eltham  sails  in  a  fort- 
night. So  the  Doctor  has  no  time  to  waste. 
Furthermore,  I  have  an  idea  that  his  arrange- 
ments are  of  such  a  character  that  they  must  go 
forward.     He  might  turn  aside,  of  course,  to  as- 


110      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

sassinate  me,  if  opportunity  arose!  But  we 
know,  from  experience,  that  he  permits  nothing 
to  interfere  with  his  schemes." 

There  are  few  states,  I  suppose,  which  exact 
so  severe  a  toll  from  one's  nervous  system  as 
the  anticipation  of  calamity. 

All  anticipation  is  keener,  be  it  of  joy  or  pain, 
than  the  reality  whereof  it  is  a  mental  forecast; 
but  that  inactive  waiting  at  Redmoat,  for  the 
blow  which  we  knew  full  well  to  be  pending, 
exceeded,  in  its  nerve  taxation,  anything  I  hith- 
erto had  experienced. 

I  felt  as  one  bound  upon  an  Aztec  altar,  with 
the  priest's  obsidian  knife  raised  above  my  breast ! 

Secret  and  malign  forces  throbbed  about  us; 
forces  against  which  we  had  no  armor.  Dread- 
ful as  it  was,  I  count  it  a  mercy  that  the  climax 
was  reached  so  quickly.  And  it  came  suddenly 
enough ;  for  there  in  that  quiet  Norfolk  home  we 
found  ourselves  at  hand  grips  with  one  of  the 
mysterious  horrors  which  characterized  the  oper- 
ations of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu.  It  was  upon  us  be- 
fore we  realized  it.  There  is  no  incidental  music 
to  the  dramas  of  real  life. 

As  we  sat  on  the  little  terrace  in  the  creeping 
twilight,  I  remember  thinking  how  the  peace  of 
the  scene  gave  the  lie  to  my  fears  that  we  bordered 
upon  tragic  things.     Then  Csesar,  who  had  bf  en 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      111 

a  docile  patient  all  day,  began  howling  again; 
and  I  saw  Greba  Eltham  shudder. 

I  caught  Smith's  eye,  and  was  about  to  pro- 
pose our  retirement  indoors,  when  the  party  was 
broken  up  in  more  turbulent  fashion.  I  suppose 
it  was  the  presence  of  the  girl  which  prompted 
Denby  to  the  rash  act,  a  desire  personally  to  dis- 
tinguish himself.  But,  as  I  recalled  afterwards, 
his  gaze  had  rarely  left  the  shrubbery  since  dusk, 
save  to  seek  her  face,  and  now  he  leaped  wildly  to 
his  feet,  overturning  his  chair,  and  dashed  across 
the  grass  to  the  trees. 

"Did  you  see  it?"  he  yelled.     "Did  you  see 

it?" 

He  evidently  carried  a  revolver.  For  from  the 
edge  of  the  shrubbery  a  shot  sounded,  and  in  the 
flash  we  saw  Denby  with  the  weapon  raised. 

"  Greba,  go  in  and  fasten  the  windows,"  cried 
Eltham.  "  Mr.  Smith,  will  you  enter  the  bushes 
from  the  west.  Dr.  Petrie,  east.  Edwards, 
Edwards — "  And  he  was  off  across  the  lawn 
with  the  nervous  activity  of  a  cat. 

As  I  made  off  in  an  opposite  direction  I  heard 
the  gardener's  voice  from  the  lower  gate,  and 
I  saw  Eltham's  plan.  It  was  to  surround  the 
shrubbery. 

Two  more  shots  and  two  flashes  from  the 
dense  heart  of  greenwood.     Then  a  loud  cry  —  I 


112     THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

thought,  from  Denby —  and  a  second,  muffled 
one. 

Following  —  silence,  only  broken  by  the  howl- 
ing of  the  mastiff. 

I  sprinted  through  the  rose  garden,  leaped 
heedlessly  over  a  bed  of  geranium  and  heliotrope, ' 
and  plunged  in  among  the  bushes  and  under  the 
elms.     Away  on  the  left  I  heard  Edwards  shout- 
ing, and  Eltham's  answering  voice. 

"  Denby !  "  I  cried,  and  yet  louder :  "  Den- 
by!" 

But  the  silence  fell  again. 

Dusk  was  upon  Redmoat  now,  but  from  sitting 
in  the  twilight  my  eyes  had  grown  accustomed 
to  gloom,  and  I  could  see  fairly  well  what  lay 
before  me.  Not  daring  to  think  what  might  lurk 
above,  below,  around  me,  I  pressed  on  into  the 
midst  of  the  thicket. 

"  Vernon ! "  came  Eltham's  voice  from  one 
side. 

"  Bear  more  to  the  right,  Edwards,"  I  heard 
Nayland  Smith  cry  directly  ahead  of  me. 

With  an  eerie  and  indescribable  sensation  of 
impending  disaster  upon  me,  I  thrust  my  way 
through  to  a  gray  patch  which  marked  a  break 
in  the  elmen  roof.  At  the  foot  of  the  copper 
beech  I  almost  fell  over  Eltham.  Then  Smith 
plunged  into  view.    Lastly,  Edwards  the  gar- 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      118 

dener  rounded  a  big  rhododendron  and  com- 
pleted the  party. 

We  stood  quite  still  for  a  moment. 

A  faint  breeze  whispered  through  the  beech 
leaves. 

"Where  is  he?" 

I  cannot  remember  who  put  it  into  words;  I 
was  too  dazed  with  amazement  to  notice.  Then 
Eltham  began  shouting: 

"  Vernon !     Vernon !     Vernon!  " 

His  voice  pitched  higher  upon  each  repetition. 
There  was  something  horrible  about  that  vain 
calling,  under  the  whispering  beech,  with  shrubs 
banked  about  us  cloaking  God  alone  could  know 
what. 

From  the  back  of  the  house  came  Csesar's  faint 
reply. 

"  Quick !  Lights !  "  rapped  Smith.  "  Every 
lamp  you  have !  n 

Off  we  went,  dodging  laurels  and  privets,  and 
poured  out  on  to  the  lawn,  a  disordered  com- 
pany. Elthanrs  face  was  deathly  pale,  and  his 
jaw  set  hard.     He  met  my  eye. 

"  God  forgive  me ! "  he  said.  "  I  could  do 
murder  to-night !  " 

He  was  a  man  composed  of  strange  perplex- 
ities. 

It  seemed  an  age  before  the  lights  were  found. 


114      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

But  at  last  we  returned  to  the  bushes,  really  after 
a  very  brief  delay;  and  ten  minutes  sufficed  us 
to  explore  the  entire  shrubbery,  for  it  was  not 
extensive.  We  found  his  revolver,  but  there 
was  no  one  there  —  nothing. 

When  we  all  stood  again  on  the  lawn,  I  thought 
that  I  had  never  seen  Smith  so  haggard. 

"  What  in  Heaven's  name  can  we  do?  "  he  mut- 
tered.    "  What  does  it  mean?  " 

He  expected  no  answer;  for  there  was  none  to 
offer  one. 

"  Search !    Everywhere,"  said  Eltham  hoarsely. 

He  ran  off  into  the  rose  garden,  and  began 
beating  about  among  the  flowers  like  a  madman, 
muttering :     "  Vernon !     Vernon !  " 

For  close  upon  an  hour  we  all  searched.  We 
searched  every  square  yard,  I  think,  within  the 
wire  fencing,  and  found  no  trace.  Miss  Eltham 
slipped  out  in  the  confusion,  and  joined  with  the 
rest  of  us  in  that  frantic  hunt.  Some  of  the 
servants  assisted  too. 

It  was  a  group  terrified  and  awestricken  which 
came  together  again  on  the  terrace.  One  and 
then  another  would  give  up,  until  only  Eltham 
and  Smith  were  missing.  Then  they  came  back 
together  from  examining  the  steps  to  the  lower 
gate. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      115 

Eltham  dropped  on  to  a  rustic  seat,  and  sank 
liis  head  in  his  hands. 

Nayland  Smith  paced  up  and  down  like  a 
newly  caged  animal,  snapping  his  teeth  together 
and  tugging  at  his  ear. 

Possessed  by  some  sudden  idea,  or  pressed  to 
action  by  his  tumultuous  thoughts,  he  snatched 
up  a  lantern  and  strode  silently  off  across  the 
grass  and  to  the  shrubbery  once  more.  I 
followed  him.  I  think  his  idea  was  that  he 
might  surprise  anyone  who  lurked  there.  He 
surprised  himself,  and  all  of  us. 

For  right  at  the  margin  he  tripped  and  fell 
flat.     I  ran  to  him. 

He  had  fallen  over  the  body  of  Denby,  which' 
lay  there! 

Denby  had  not  been  there  a  few  moments  be- 
fore, and  how  he  came  to  be  there  now  we  dared 
not  conjecture.  Mr.  Eltham  joined  us,  uttered 
one  short,  dry  sob,  and  dropped  upon  his  knees. 
Then  we  were  carrying  Denby  back  to  the  house, 
with  the  mastiff  howling  a  marche  funebre. 

We  laid  him  on  the  grass  where  it  sloped  down 
from  the  terrace.  Nayland  Smith's  haggard 
face  was  terrible.  But  the  stark  horror  of  the 
thing  inspired  him  to  that,  which  conceived 
earlier,  had  saved  Denby.     Twisting  suddenly 


116      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

to  Eltham,  lie  roared  in  a  voice  audible  beyond 
the  river: 

"Heavens!  we  are  fools!     Loose  the  dog!" 

"  But  the  dog  — "  I  began. 

Smith  clapped  his  hand  over  my  mouth. 

"  I  know  he's  crippled/'  he  whispered.  "  But; 
if  anything  human  lurks  there,  the  dog  will  lead 
us  to  it.  If  a  man  is  there,  he  will  fly!  Why 
did  we  not  think  of  it  before.  Fools,  fools ! " 
He  raised  his  voice  again.  "  Keep  him  on  leash, 
Edwards.     He  will  lead  us." 

The  scheme  succeeded. 

Edwards  barely  had  started  on  his  errand 
when  bells  began  ringing  inside  the  house. 

"  Wait ! "  snapped  Eltham,  and  rushed  in- 
doors. 

A  moment  later  he  was  out  again,  his  eyes 
gleaming  madly. 

"  Above  the  moat,"  he  panted.  And  we  were 
off  en  masse  round  the  edge  of  the  trees. 

It  was  dark  above  the  moat;  but  not  so  dark 
as  to  prevent  our  seeing  a  narrow  ladder  of  thin 
bamboo  joints  and  silken  cord  hanging  by  two 
hooks  from  the  top  of  the  twelve-foot  wire  fence. 
There  was  no  sound. 

"  He's  out !  "  screamed  Eltham.  "  Down  the 
steps ! " 

We  all  ran  our  best  and  swiftest.     But  Elt- 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      11T 

ham  outran  us.  Like  a  fury  he  tore  at  bolts  and 
bars,  and  like  a  fury  sprang  out  into  the  road. 
Straight  and  white  it  showed  to  the  acclivity  by 
the  Roman  ruin.  But  no  living  thing  moved 
upon  it.  The  distant  baying  of  the  dog  was 
borne  to  our  ears. 

"  Curse  it !  he's  crippled,"  hissed  Smith. 
"  Without  him,  as  well  pursue  a  shadow !  " 

A  few  hours  later  the  shrubbery  yielded  up 
its  secret,  a  simple  one  enough:  A  big  cask 
sunk  in  a  pit,  with  a  laurel  shrub  cunningly 
affixed  to  its  movable  lid,  which  was  further  dis- 
guised with  tufts  of  grass.  A  slender  bamboo- 
jointed  rod  lay  near  the  fence.  It  had  a  hook 
on  the  top,  and  was  evidently  used  for  attaching 
the  ladder. 

"It  was  the  end  of  this  ladder  which  Miss 
Eltham  saw,"  said  Smith,  "  as  he  trailed  it  be- 
hind him  into  the  shrubbery  when  she  inter- 
rupted him  in  her  father's  room.  He  and  whom- 
ever he  had  with  him  doubtless  slipped  in  during 
the  daytime  —  whilst  Eltham  was  absent  in 
London  —  bringing  the  prepared  cask  and  all 
necessary  implements  with  them.  They  con- 
cealed themselves  somewhere  —  probably  in  the 
shrubbery  —  and  during  the  night  made  the 
cache.     The  excavated  earth  would  be  disposed 


118      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

of  on  the  flower-beds;  the  dummy  bush  they 
probably  had  ready.  You  see,  the  problem  of 
getting  in  was  never  a  big  one.  But  owing  to 
the  l defenses'  it  was  impossible  (whilst  Eltham 
was  in  residence  at  any  rate)  to  get  out  after 
dark.  For  Fu-Manchu's  purposes,  then,  a  work- 
ing-base inside  Redmoat  was  essential.  His 
servant  —  for  he  needed  assistance  —  must  have 
been  in  hiding  somewhere  outside ;  Heaven  knows 
where!  During  the  day  they  could  come  or  go 
by  the  gates,  as  we  have  already  noted." 

"  You  think  it  was  the  Doctor  himself?  " 

"  It  seems  possible.  Whom  else  has  eyes  like 
the  eyes  Miss  Eltham  saw  from  the  window  last 
night?  " 

Then  remains  to  tell  the  nature  of  the  out- 
rage whereby  Fu-Manchu  had  planned  to  pre- 
vent Eltham's  leaving  England  for  China.  This 
we  learned  from  Denby.  For  Denby  was  not 
dead. 

It  was  easy  to  divine  that  he  had  stumbled 
upon  the  fiendish  visitor  at  the  very  entrance 
to  his  burrow;  had  been  stunned  (judging  from 
the  evidence,  with  a  sand-bag) ,  and  dragged  down 
into  the  cache  —  to  which  he  must  have  lain  in 
such  dangerous  proximity  as  to  render  detection 
of  the  dummy  bush  possible  in  removing  him/ 
The  quickest  expedient,  then,  had  been  to  draw; 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      119 

him  beneath.  When  the  search  of  the  shrubbery 
was  concluded,  his  body  had  been  borne  to  the 
edge  of  the  bushes  and  laid  where  we  found  it. 

Why  his  life  had  been  spared,  I  cannot  con- 
jecture, but  provision  had  been  made  against  his 
recovering  consciousness  and  revealing  the  se- 
cret of  the  shrubbery.  The  ruse  of  releasing  the 
mastiff  alone  had  terminated  the  visit  of  the  un- 
bidden guest  within  Eedmoat. 

Denby  made  a  very  slow  recovery;  and,  even 
when  convalescent,  consciously  added  not  one 
fact  to  those  we  already  had  collated ;  his  memory 
had  completely  deserted  him ! 

This,  in  my  opinion,  as  in  those  of  the  several 
specialists  consulted,  was  due,  not  to  the  blow  on 
the  head,  but  to  the  presence,  slightly  below  and 
to  the  right  of  the  first  cervical  curve  of  the 
spine,  of  a  minute  puncture  —  undoubtedly 
caused  by  a  hypodermic  syringe.  Then,  uncon- 
sciously, poor  Denby  furnished  the  last  link  in 
the  chain;  for  undoubtedly,  by  means  of  this 
operation,  Fu-Manchu  had  designed  to  efface 
from  Eltham's  mind  his  plans  of  return  to  Ho- 
Nan. 

The  nature  of  the  fluid  which  could  produce 
such  mental  symptoms  was  a  mystery  —  a  mys- 
tery which  defied  Western  science:  one  of  the 
many  strange  secrets  of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu. 


Chapter  X 

SINCE  Nayland  Smith's  return  from  Burma 
I  had  rarely  taken  up  a  paper  without  com- 
ing upon  evidences  of  that  seething  which 
had  cast  up  Dr.  Fu-Manchu.  Whether,  hither- 
to, such  items  had  escaped  my  attention  or  had 
seemed  to  demand  no  particular  notice,  or 
whether  they  now  became  increasingly  numer- 
ous, I  was  unable  to  determine. 

One  evening,  some  little  time  after  our  so- 
journ in  Norfolk,  in  glancing  through  a  number 
of  papers  which  I  had  brought  in  with  me,  1 
chanced  upon  no  fewer  than  four  items  of  news 
bearing  more  or  less  directly  upon  the  grim  busi- 
ness which  engaged  my  friend  and  I. 

No  white  man,  I  honestly  believe,  appreciates 
the  unemotional  cruelty  of  the  Chinese. 
Throughout  the  time  that  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  re- 
mained in  England,  the  press  preserved  a  uni- 
form silence  upon  the  subject  of  his  existencec 
This  was  due  to  Nayland  Smith.  But,  as  a  re- 
sult, I  feel  assured  that  my  account  of  the  China- 

120 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      121 

man's  deeds  will,  in  many  quarters,  meet  with 
an  incredulous  reception. 

I  had  been  at  work,  earlier  in  the  evening, 
upon  the  opening  chapters  of  this  chronicle,  and 
I  had  realized  how  difficult  it  would  be  for  my 
reader,  amid  secure  and  cozy  surroundings,  to 
credit  any  human  being  with  a  callous  villainy 
great  enough  to  conceive  and  to  put  into  execu- 
tion such  a  death  pest  as  that  directed  against 
Sir  Crichton  Davey. 

One  would  expect  God's  worst  man  to  shrink 
from  employing  —  against  however  vile  an 
enemy  —  such  an  instrument  as  the  Zayat  Kiss. 
So  thinking,  my  eye  was  caught  by  the  follow- 
ing:— 

EXPRESS  COREESPONDENT 

New  York. 

"  Secret  service  men  of  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment are  searching  the  South  Sea  Islands  for 
a  certain  Hawaiian  from  the  island  of  Maui, 
who,  it  is  believed,  has  been  selling  poisonous 
scorpions  to  Chinese  in  Honolulu  anxious  to  get 
rid  of  their  children. 

"  Infanticide,  by  scorpion  and  otherwise,  among 
the  Chinese,  has  increased  so  terribly  that  the 
authorities   have   started  a   searching   inquiry, 


222     THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

which  has  led  to  the  hunt  for  the  scorpion  dealer 
of  Maui. 

"  Practically  all  the  babies  that  die  myste- 
riously are  unwanted  girls,  and  in  nearly  every 
case  the  parents  promptly  ascribe  the  death  to 
the  bite  of  a  scorpion,  and  are  ready  to  produce 
some  more  or  less  poisonous  insect  in  support  of 
the  statement. 

"  The  authorities  have  no  doubt  that  infanti- 
cide by  scorpion  bite  is  a  growing  practice,  and 
orders  have  been  given  to  hunt  down  the  scorpion 
dealer  at  any  cost." 

Is  it  any  matter  for  wonder  that  such  a  people 
had  produced  a  Fu-Manchu?  I  pasted  the  cut- 
ting into  a  scrap-book,  determined  that,  if  I 
lived  to  publish  my  account  of  those  days,  I 
would  quote  it  therein  as  casting  a  sidelight  up- 
on Chinese  character. 

A  Keuter  message  to  The  Globe  and  a  para- 
graph in  The  Star  also  furnished  work  for  my 
scissors.  Here  were  evidences  of  the  deep- 
seated  unrest,  the  secret  turmoil,  which  mani- 
fested itself  so  far  from  its  center  as  peaceful 
England  in  the  person  of  the  sinister  Doctor. 

"Hong  Kong,  Friday. 
"  Li  Hon  Hung,  the  Chinaman  who  fired  at  tho 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU     123 

t 

Governor  yesterday,  was  charged  before  the 
magistrate  with  shooting  at  him  with  intent  to 
kill,  which  is  equivalent  to  attempted  murder. 
The  prisoner,  who  was  not  defended,  pleaded 
guilty.  The  Assistant  Crown  Solicitor,  who 
prosecuted,  asked  for  a  remand  until  Monday, 
which  was  granted. 

"  Snapshots  taken  by  the  spectators  of  the  out- 
rage yesterday  disclosed  the  presence  of  an  ac- 
complice, also  armed  with  a  revolver.  It  is  re- 
ported that  this  man,  who  was  arrested  last 
night,  was  in  possession  of  incriminating  docu- 
mentary evidence." 

Later. 

"  Examination  of  the  documents  found  on  Li 
Hon  Hung's  accomplice  has  disclosed  the  fact 
that  both  men  were  well  financed  by  the  Canton 
Triad  Society,  the  directors  of  which  had  en- 
joined the  assassination  of  Sir  F.  M.  or  Mr.  C.  S., 
the  Colonial  Secretary.  In  a  report  prepared  by 
the  accomplice  for  dispatch  to  Canton,  also  found 
on  his  person,  he  expressed  regret  that  the  at- 
tempt had  failed." — Renter. 

"  It  is  officially  reported  in  St.  Petersburg  that 
a  force  of  Chinese  soldiers  and  villagers  sur- 
rounded the  house  of  a  Russia  i  subject  named 


124      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

Said  Effendi,  near  Khotan,  in  Chinese  Tur- 
kestan. 

"  They  fired  at  the  house  and  set  it  in  flames. 
There  were  in  the  house  about  100  Kussians, 
many  of  whom  were  killed. 

"  The  Kussian  Government  has  instructed  its 
Minister  at  Peking  to  make  the  most  vigorous 
representations  on  the  subject.'' —  Renter. 

Finally,  in  a  Personal  Column,  I  found  the 
following :  — 

"  Ho-Nan.  Have  abandoned  visit. —  Elt- 
ham." 

I  had  just  pasted  it  into  my  book  when  Nay- 
land  Smith  came  in  and  threw  himself  into  an 
arm-chair,  facing  me  across  the  table.  I  showed 
him  the  cutting. 

"  I  am  glad,  for  Eltham's  sake  —  and  for  the 
girl's,"  was  his  comment.  "  But  it  marks  an- 
other victory  for  Fu-Manchu!  Just  Heaven  X 
why  is  retribution  delayed !  " 

Smith's  darkly  tanned  face  had  grown  leaner 
than  ever  since  he  had  begun  his  fight  with  the 
most  uncanny  opponent,  I  suppose,  against  whom 
a  man  ever  had  pitted  himself.  He  stood  up  and 
began  restlessly  to  pace  the  room,  furiously  stuf- 
fing tobacco  into  his  briar. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      125 

"  I  have  seen  Sir  Lionel  Barton,"  he  said  ab- 
ruptly ;  "  and,  to  put  the  whole  thing  in  a  nut- 
shell, he  has  laughed  at  me !  During  the  months 
that  I  have  been  wondering  where  he  had  gone 
to  he  has  been  somewhere  in  Egypt.  He  cer- 
tainly bears  a  charmed  life,  for  on  the  evidence 
of  his  letter  to  The  Times  he  has  seen  things  in 
Tibet  which  Fu-Manchu  would  have  the  West 
blind  to;  in  fact,  I  think  he  has  found  a  new 
keyhole  to  the  gate  of  the  Indian  Empire ! " 

Long  ago  we  had  placed  the  name  of  Sir  Lionel 
Barton  upon  the  list  of  those  whose  lives  stood 
between  Fu-Manchu  and  the  attainment  of  his 
end.  Orientalist  and  explorer,  the  fearless 
traveler  who  first  had  penetrated  to  Lhassa,  who 
thrice,  as  a  pilgrim,  had  entered  forbidden  Mec- 
ca, he  now  had  turned  his  attention  again  to 
Tibet  —  thereby  signing  his  own  death-warrant. 

"  That  he  has  reached  England  alive  is  a  hope- 
ful sign?"  I  suggested. 

Smith  shook  his  head,  and  lighted  the  black- 
ened briar. 

"  England  at  present  is  the  web,"  he  replied. 
"  The  spider  will  be  waiting.  Petrie,  I  some- 
times despair.  Sir  Lionel  is  an  impossible  man 
to  shepherd.  You  ought  to  see  his  house  at 
Finchley.  A  low,  squat  place  completely 
hemmed  in  by  trees.     Damp  as  a  swamp ;  smells 


126      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

like  a  jungle.  Everything  topsy-turvy.  He  only 
arrived  to-day,  and  he  is  working  and  eating 
(and  sleeping,  I  expect),  in  a  study  that  looks 
like  an  earthquake  at  Sotheby's  auction-rooms. 
The  rest  of  the  house  is  half  a  menagerie  and 
half  a  circus.  He  has  a  Bedouin  groom,  a 
Chinese  body-servant,  and  Heaven  only  knows 
what  other  strange  people ! " 

"Chinese!" 

"  Yes,  I  saw  him ;  a  squinting  Cantonese  he 
calls  Kwee.  I  don't  like  him.  Also,  there  is 
a  secretary  known  as  Strozza,  who  has  an  un- 
pleasant face.  He  is  a  fine  linguist,  I  under- 
stand, and  is  engaged  upon  the  Spanish  notes 
for  Barton's  forthcoming  book  on  the  Mayapan 
temples.  By  the  way,  all  Sir  Lionel's  baggage 
disappeared  from  the  landing-stage  —  including 
his  Tibetan  notes." 

"Significant!" 

"  Of  course.  But  he  argues  that  he  has 
crossed  Tibet  from  the  Kuen-Lun  to  the  Hima- 
layas without  being  assassinated,  and  therefore 
that  it  is  unlikely  he  will  meet  with  that  fate  in 
London.  I  left  him  dictating  the  book  from 
memory,  at  the  rate  of  about  two  hundred  words 
a  minute." 

"  He  is  wasting  no  time." 

"  Wasting  time !     In  addition  to  the  Yucatan 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      127 

book  and  the  work  on  Tibet,  be  bas  to  read  a 
paper  at  tbe  Institute  next  week  about  some 
tomb  be  bas  uneartbed  in  Egypt.  As  I  came 
away,  a  van  drove  up  from  tbe  docks  and  a 
couple  of  fellows  delivered  a  sarcophagus  as  big 
as  a  boat.  It  is  unique,  according  to  Sir  Lionel, 
and  will  go  to  tbe  British  Museum  after  be  bas 
examined  it.  The  man  crams  six  months'  work 
into  six  weeks;  then  be  is  off  again." 

"  What  do  you  propose  to  do  ?  " 

"What  can  I  do?  I  know  that  Fu-Mancbu 
will  make  an  attempt  upon  him.  I  cannot  doubt 
it.  Ugh !  that  house  gave  me  the  shudders.  No 
sunlight,  I'll  swear,  Petrie,  can  ever  penetrate 
to  the  rooms,  and  when  I  arrived  this  afternoon 
clouds  of  gnats  floated  like  motes  wherever  a 
stray  beam  filtered  through  the  trees  of  the 
avenue.  There's  a  steamy  smell  about  the  place 
that  is  almost  malarious,  and  the  whole  of  the 
west  front  is  covered  with  a  sort  of  monkey- 
creeper,  which  he  has  imported  at  some  time  or 
other.  It  bas  a  close,  exotic  perfume  that  is 
quite  in  the  picture.  I  tell  you,  the  place  was 
made  for  murder." 

"Have  you  taken  any  precautions?" 

"  I  called  at  Scotland  Yard  and  sent  a  man 
down  to  watch  the  house,  but — " 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders  helplessly. 


-*• 


128      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  What  is  Sir  Lionel  like?  " 

"A  madman,  Petrie.  A  tall,  massive  man, 
wearing  a  dirty  dressing-gown  of  neutral  color; 
a  man  with  untidy  gray  hair  and  a  bristling 
mustache,  keen  blue  eyes,  and  a  brown  skin; 
who  wears  a  short  beard  or  rarely  shaves  —  I 
don't  know  which.  I  left  him  striding  about 
among  the  thousand  and  one  curiosities  of  that 
incredible  room,  picking  his  way  through  his 
antique  furniture,  works  of  reference,  manu- 
scripts, mummies,  spears,  pottery  and  what  not 
—  sometimes  kicking  a  book  from  his  course,  or 
stumbling  over  a  stuffed  crocodile  or  a  Mexican 
mask  —  alternately  dictating  and  conversing. 
Phew!" 

For  some  time  we  were  silent. 

"  Smith,"  I  said,  u  we  are  making  no  headway 
in  this  business.  With  all  the  forces  arrayed 
against  him,  Fu-Manchu  still  eludes  us,  still 
pursues  his  devilish,  inscrutable  way." 

Nayland  Smith  nodded. 

"And  we  don't  know  all,"  he  said.  "We 
mark  such  and  such  a  man  as  one  alive  to  the 
Yellow  Peril,  and  we  warn  him  —  if  we  have 
time.  Perhaps  he  escapes;  perhaps  he  does  not. 
But  what  do  we  know,  Petrie,  of  those  others 
who  may  die  every  week  by  his  murderous 
agency?    We  cannot  know  everyone  who  has 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      129 

read  the  riddle  of  China.  I  never  see  a  report 
of  someone  found  drowned,  of  an  apparent  sui- 
cide, of  a  sudden,  though  seemingly  natural 
death,  without  wondering.  I  tell  you,  Fu-Man- 
chu  is  omnipresent;  his  tentacles  embrace  every- 
thing. I  said  that  Sir  Lionel  must  bear  a 
charmed  life.  The  fact  that  we  are  alive  is  a 
miracle." 

He  glanced  at  his  watch'. 

"  Nearly  eleven,"  he  said.  "  But  sleep  seems 
a  waste  of  time  —  apart  from  its  dangers." 

We  heard  a  bell  ring.  A  few  moments  later 
followed  a  knock  at  the  room  door. 

"  Come  in !  "  I  cried. 

A  girl  entered  with  a  telegram  addressed  to 
Smith.  His  jaw  looked  very  square  in  the  lamp- 
light, and  his  eyes  shone  like  steel  as  he  took  it 
from  her  and  opened  the  envelope.  He  glanced 
at  the  form,  stood  up  and  passed  it  to  me,  reach- 
ing for  his  hat,  which  lay  upon  my  writing-table. 

"  God  help  us,  Petrie !  "  he  said. 

This  was  the  message: 

"  Sir  Lionel  Barton  murdered.  Meet  me  at 
his  house  at  once. —  Weymouth,  Inspector." 


Chapter  XI 

LTHOUGH  we  avoided  all  unnecessary 
delay,  it  was  close  upon  midnight  when 
our  cab  swung  round  into  a  darkly 
shadowed  avenue,  at  the  farther  end  of  which, 
as  seen  through  a  tunnel,  the  moonlight  glittered 
upon  the  windows  of  Kowan  House,  Sir  Lionel 
Barton's  home. 

Stepping  out  before  the  porch  of  the  long, 
squat  building,  I  saw  that  it  was  banked  in,  as 
Smith  had  said,  by  trees  and  shrubs.  The  facade 
showed  mantled  in  the  strange  exotic  creeper 
which  he  had  mentioned,  and  the  air  was  pun- 
gent with  an  odor  of  decaying  vegetation,  with 
which  mingled  the  heavy  perfume  of  the  little 
nocturnal  red  flowers  which  bloomed  luxuriantly 
upon  the  creeper. 

The  place  looked  a  veritable  wilderness,  and 
when  we  were  admitted  to  the  hall  by  Inspector 
Weymouth  I  saw  that  the  interior  was  in  keep- 
ing with  the  exterior,  for  the  hall  was  constructed 
from  the  model  of  some  apartment  in  an 
Assyrian  temple,   and  the   squat   columns,  the 

130 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      131 

low  seats,  the  hangings,  all  were  eloquent  of 
neglect,  being  thickly  dust-coated.  The  musty 
smell,  too,  was  almost  as  pronounced  here  as  out- 
side, beneath  the  trees. 

To  a  library,  whose  contents  overflowed  in 
many  literary  torrents  upon  the  floor,  the  de- 
tective conducted  us. 

"Good  heavens!"  I  cried,  "what's  that?" 

Something  leaped  from  the  top  of  the  bookcase, 
ambled  silently  across  the  littered  carpet,  and 
passed  from  the  library  like  a  golden  streak.  I 
stood  looking  after  it  with  startled  eyes.  Inspec- 
tor Weymouth  laughed  dryly. 

"  It's  a  young  puma,  or  a  civet-cat,  or  some- 
thing, Doctor,"  he  said.  "  This  house  is  full  of 
surprises  —  and  mysteries." 

His  voice  was  not  quite  steady,  I  thought,  and 
he  carefully  closed  the  door  ere  proceeding 
further. 

"  Where  is  he?  "  asked  Nay  land  Smith  harshly. 
"  How  was  it  done?  " 

Weymouth  sat  down  and  lighted  a  cigar  which 
I  offered  him. 

"  I  thought  you  would  like  to  hear  what  led 
up  to  it  —  so  far  as  we  know  —  before  seeing 
him?" 

Smith  nodded. 

"  Well,"  continued  the  Inspector,  "  the  man 


132      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

you  arranged  to  send  down  from  the  Yard  got 
here  all  right  and  took  up  a  post  in  the  road 
outside,  where  he  could  command  a  good  view 
of  the  gates.  He  saw  and  heard  nothing,  until 
going  on  for  half-past  ten,  when  a  young  lady 
turned  up  and  went  in." 
"A  young  lady?  " 

"Miss  Edmonds,  Sir  Lionel's  shorthand  typ- 
ist.    She  had  found,  after  getting  home,  that 
her  bag,  with  her  purse  in,  was  missing,  and  she 
came  back  to  see  if  she  had  left  it  here.     She 
gave  the  alarm.     My  man  heard  the  row  from 
the  road  and  came  in.     Then  he  ran  out  and 
rang  us  up.     I  immediately  wired  for  you." 
"  He  heard  the  row,  you  say.    "What  row?  " 
"  Miss  Edmonds  went  into  violent  hysterics !  " 
Smith  was  pacing  the  room  now  in  tense  ex- 
citement. 

"  Describe  what  he  saw  when  he  came  in." 
"  He  saw  a  negro  footman  —  there  isn't  an 
Englishman  in  the  house  —  trying  to  pacify  the 
girl  out  in  the  hall  yonder,  and  a  Malay  and  an- 
other colored  man  beating  their  foreheads  and 
howling.  There  was  no  sense  to  be  got  out  of 
any  of  them,  so  he  started  to  investigate  for  him- 
self. He  had  taken  the  bearings  of  the  place 
earlier  in  the  evening,  and  from  the  light  in  a 
window  on  the  ground  floor  had  located  the 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      133 

study;  so  he  set  out  to  look  for  the  door.  When 
he  found  it,  it  was  locked  from  the  inside." 

"Well?" 

"  He  went  out  and  round  to  the  window. 
There's  no  blind,  and  from  the  shrubbery  you  can 
see  into  the  lumber-room  known  as  the  study. 
He  looked  in,  as  apparently  Miss  Edmonds  had 
done  before  him.  What  he  saw  accounted  for 
her  hysterics." 

Both  Smith  and  I  were  hanging  upon  his 
words. 

"All  amongst  the  rubbish  on  the  floor  a  big 
Egyptian  mummy  case  was  lying  on  its  side,  and 
face  downwards,  with  his  arms  thrown  across  it, 
lay  Sir  Lionel  Barton." 

"My  God!     Yes.     Goon." 

"  There  was  only  a  shaded  reading-lamp 
alight,  and  it  stood  on  a  chair,  shining  right 
down  on  him;  it  made  a  patch  of  light  on  the 
floor,  you  understand."  The  Inspector  indicated 
its  extent  with  his  hands.  "  Well,  as  the  man 
smashed  the  glass  and  got  the  window  open,  and 
was  just  climbing  in,  he  saw  something  else,  so 
he  says." 

He  paused. 

"  What  did  he  see?  "  demanded  Smith  shortly. 

"  A  sort  of  green  mist,  sir.  He  says  it  seemed 
to  be  alive.     It  moved  over  the  floor,  about  a 


134      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

foot  from  the  ground,  going  away  from  him  and 
towards  a  curtain  at  the  other  end  of  the 
study." 

Nayland  Smith  fixed  his  eyes  upon  the  speaker. 

"Where  did  he  first  see  this  green  mist?  " 

"  He  says,  Mr.  Smith,  that  he  thinks  it  came 
from  the  mummy  case." 

"  Yes ;  go  on." 

"  It  is  to  his  credit  that  he  climbed  into  the 
room  after  seeing  a  thing  like  that.  He  did. 
He  turned  the  body  over,  and  Sir  Lionel  looked 
horrible.  He  was  quite  dead.  Then  Croxted 
—  that's  the  man's  name  —  went  over  to  this 
curtain.  There  was  a  glass  door  —  shut.  He 
opened  it,  and  it  gave  on  a  conservatory  —  a 
place  stacked  from  the  tiled  floor  to  the  glass 
roof  with  more  rubbish.  It  was  dark  inside,  but 
enough  light  came  from  the  study  —  it's  really  a 
drawing-room,  by  the  way  — as  he'd  turned  all 
the  lamps  on,  to  give  him  another  glimpse  of 
this  green,  crawling  mist.  There  are  three  steps 
to  go  down.  On  the  steps  lay^  a  dead  China- 
man." 

"  A  dead  Chinaman !  " 

"A  dead  Chinaman." 

"  Doctor  seen  them?  "  rapped  Smith. 

"  Yes ;  a  local  man.  He  was  out  of  his  depth, 
I  could  see.    Contradicted  himself  three  times. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      135 

But  there's  no  need  for  another  opinion  —  until 
we  get  the  coroner's." 

"And  Croxted?" 

"  Croxted  was  taken  ill,  Mr.  Smith,  and  had 
to  be  sent  home  in  a  cab." 

"What  ails  him?" 

Detective-Inspector  Weymouth  raised  his  eye- 
brows and  carefully;  knocked  the  ash  from  his 
cigar. 

"  He  held  out  until  I  came,  gave  me  the  story, 
and  then  fainted  right  away.  He  said  that 
something  in  the  conservatory  seemed  to  get 
him  by  the  throat." 

"Did  he  mean  that  literally?" 

"I  couldn't  say.  We  had  to  send  the  girl 
home,  too,  of  course." 

Nayland  Smith  was  pulling  thoughtfully  at 
the  lobe  of  his  left  ear. 

"Got  any  theory?"  he  jerked. 

Weymouth  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"Not  one  that  includes  the  green  mist,"  he 
said.     "  Shall  we  go  in  now?  " 

We  crossed  the  Assyrian  hall,  where  the  mem- 
bers of  that  strange  household  were  gathered  in 
a  panic-stricken  group.  They  numbered  four. 
Two  of  them  were  negroes,  and  two  Easterns  of 
some  kind.  I  missed  the  Chinaman,  Kwee,  of 
whom  Smith  had  spoken,  and  the  Italian  sec- 


136      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

retary;  and  from  the  way  in  which  my  friend 
peered  about  the  shadows  of  the  hall  I  divined 
that  he,  too,  wondered  at  their  absence.  We 
entered  Sir  Lionel's  study  —  an  apartment 
which  I  despair  of  describing. 

Nayland  Smith's  words,  "an  earthquake  at 
Sotheby's  auction-rooms,"  leaped  to  my  mind  at 
once;  for  the  place  was  simply  stacked  with 
curious  litter  —  loot  of  Africa,  Mexico  and  Per- 
sia. In  a  clearing  by  the  hearth  a  gas  stove 
stood  upon  a  packing-case,  and  about  it  lay  a 
number  of  utensils  for  camp  cookery.  The  odor 
of  rotting  vegetation,  mingled  with  the  insistent 
perfume  of  the  strange  night-blooming  flowers, 
was  borne  in  through  the  open  window. 

In  the  center  of  the  floor,  beside  an  overturned 
sarcophagus,  lay  a  figure  in  a  neutral-colored 
dressing-gown,  face  downwards,  and  arms  thrust 
forward  and  over  the  side  of  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tian mummy  case. 

My  friend  advanced  and  knelt  beside  the  dead 
man. 

"Good  God!" 

Smith  sprang  upright  and  turned  with  an 
(extraordinary  expression  to  Inspector  Wey- 
mouth. 

"You  do  not  know  Sir  Lionel  Barton  by 
sight?  "  he  rapped. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      137 

"No,"  began  Weymouth,  "but — " 

"  This  is  not  Sir  Lionel.  This  is  Strozza,  the 
secretary." 

"  What  J  "  shouted  Weymouth. 

"Where  is  the  other  —  the  Chinaman  — 
quick !  "  cried  Smith. 

"  I  have  had  him  left  where  he  was  found  — 
on  the  conservatory  steps,"  said  the  Inspector. 

Smith  ran  across  the  room  to  where,  beyond 
the  open  door,  a  glimpse  might  be  obtained  of 
stacked-up  curiosities.  Holding  back  the  cur- 
tain to  allow  more  light  to  penetrate,  he  bent 
forward  over  a  crumpled-up  figure  which  lay  up- 
on the  steps  below. 

"  It  is !  »  he  cried  aloud.  "  It  is  Sir  Lionel's 
servant,  Kwee." 

Weymouth  and  I  looked  at  one  another  across 
the  body  of  the  Italian;  then  our  eyes  turned 
together  to  where  my  friend,  grim-faced,  stood 
over  the  dead  Chinaman.  A  breeze  whispered 
through  the  leaves;  a  great  wave  of  exotic  per- 
fume swept  from  the  open  window  towards  the 
curtained  doorway. 

It  was  a  breath  of  the  East  —  that  stretched 
out  a  yellow  hand  to  the  West.  It  was  symbolic 
of  the  subtle,  intangible  power  manifested  in 
Dr.  Fu-Manchu,  as  Nayland  Smith  —  lean,  agile, 
bronzed  with  the  suns  of  Burma,  was  symbolic 


138      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

of  the  clean  British  efficiency  which  songht  to 
combat  the  insidious  enemy. 

"  One  thing  is  evident/'  said  Smith :  "  no  one 
in  the  house,  Strozza  excepted,  knew  that  Sir 
Lionel  was  absent." 

"  How  do  you  arrive  at  that?  "  asked  Wey- 
mouth. 

"  The  servants,  in  the  hall,  are  bewailing  him 
as  dead.  If  they  had  seen  him  go  out  they  would 
know  that  it  must  be  someone  else  who  lies  here." 

"  What  about  the  Chinaman  ?  " 

"  Since  there  is  no  other  means  of  entrance  to 
the  conservatory  save  through  the  study,  Kwee 
must  have  hidden  himself  there  at  some  time 
when  his  master  was  absent  from  the  room." 

"  Croxted  found  the  communicating  door 
closed.     What  killed  the  Chinaman?" 

"  Both  Miss  Edmonds  and  Croxted  found  the 
study  door  locked  from  the  inside.  What  killed 
Strozza?  "  retorted  Smith. 

"  You  will  have  noted,"  continued  the  In- 
spector, "that  the  secretary  is  wearing  Sir 
Lionel's  dressing-gown.  It  was  seeing  him  in 
that,  as  she  looked  in  at  the  window,  which  led 
Miss  Edmonds  to  mistake  him  for  her  employer 
—  and  consequently  to  put  us  on  the  wrong 
scent." 

"  He  wore  it  in  order  that  anybody  looking  in 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      139 

at  the  window  would  be  sure  to  make  that  mis- 
take/' rapped  Smith. 

"Why?"  I  asked. 

"  Because  he  came  here  for  a  felonious  purpose. 
See."  Smith  stooped  and  took  up  several  tools 
from  the  litter  on  the  floor.  "  There  lies  the 
lid.  He  came  to  open  the  sarcophagus.  It  con- 
tained the  mummy  of  some  notable  person  who 
flourished  under  Meneptah  II;  and  Sir  Lionel 
told  me  that  a  number  of  valuable  ornaments  and 
jewels  probably  were  secreted  amongst  the  wrap- 
pings. He  proposed  to  open  the  thing  and  to 
submit  the  entire  contents  to  examination  to- 
night. He  evidently  changed  his  mind  —  fortu- 
nately for  himself." 

I  ran  my  fingers  through  my  hair  in  perplexity. 

"Then  what  has  become  of  the  mummy?" 

Nayland  Smith  laughed  dryly. 

"  It  has  vanished  in  the  form  of  a  green  vapor 
apparently,"  he  said.     "  Look  at  Strozza's  face." 

He  turned  the  body  over,  and,  used  as  I  was  to 
such  spectacles,  the  contorted  features  of  the 
Italian  filled  me  with  horror,  so  suggestive  were 
they  of  a  death  more  than  ordinarily  violent.  I 
pulled  aside  the  dressing-gown  and  searched  the 
body  for  marks,  but  failed  to  find  any.  Nayland 
Smith  crossed  the  room,  and,  assisted  by  the  de-, 
tective,  carried  Kwee,  the  Chinaman,  into  the 


140      THE  INSIDIOUS  DB.  FU-MANCHU 

study  and  laid  him  fully  in  the  light.  His  puck- 
ered yellow  face  presented  a  sight  even  more 
awful  than  the  other,  and  his  blue  lips  were 
drawn  back,  exposing  both  upper  and  lower 
teeth.  There  were  no  marks  of  violence,  but  his 
limbs,  like  Strozza's,  had  been  tortured  during 
his  mortal  struggles  into  unnatural  postures. 

The  breeze  was  growing  higher,  and  pungent 
odor-waves  from  the  damp  shrubbery,  bearing, 
too,  the  oppressive  sweetness  of  the  creeping 
plant,  swept  constantly  through  the  open  win- 
dow. Inspector  Weymouth  carefully  relighted 
his  cigar. 

"  I'm  with  you  this  far,  Mr.  Smith,"  he  said. 
16  Strozza,  knowing  Sir  Lionel  to  be  absent,  locked 
himself  in  here  to  rifle  the  mummy  case,  for  Crox- 
ted,  entering  by  way  of  the  window,  found  the 
key  on  the  inside.  Strozza  didn't  know  that  the 
Chinaman  was  hidden  in  the  conservatory — w 

"  And  Kwee  did  not  dare  to  show  himself,  be- 
cause he  too  was  there  for  some  mysterious  rea- 
son of  his  own,"  interrupted  Smith. 

"  Having  got  the  lid  off,  something  —  some- 
body — " 

"  Suppose  we  say  the  mummy?  " 

Weymouth  laughed  uneasily. 

"Well,  sir,  something  that  vanished  from  a 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      141 

locked  room  without  opening  the  door  or  the 
window  killed  Strozza." 

"  And  something  which,  having  killed  Strozza, 
next  killed  the  Chinaman,  apparently  without 
troubling  to  open  the  door  behind  which  he  lay 
concealed/7  Smith  continued.  "  For  once  in  a 
way,  Inspector,  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  has  employed  an 
ally  which  even  his  giant  will  was  incapable  en- 
tirely to  subjugate.  What  blind  force  —  what 
terrific  agent  of  death  —  had  he  confined  in  that 
sarcophagus !  " 

"  You  think  this  is  the  work  of  Fu-Manchu?  " 
I  said.  "  If  you  are  correct,  his  power  indeed 
is  more  than  human." 

Something  in  my  voice,  I  suppose,  brought 
Smith  right  about.     He  surveyed  me  curiously. 

"  Can  you  doubt  it?  The  presence  of  a  con- 
cealed Chinaman  surely  is  sufficient.  Kwee,  I 
feel  assured,  was  one  of  the  murder  group,  though 
probably  he  had  only  recently  entered  that  mys- 
terious service.  He  is  unarmed,  or  I  should  feel 
disposed  to  think  that  his  part  was  to  assassinate 
Sir  Lionel  whilst,  unsuspecting  the  presence  of 
a  hidden  enemy,  he  was  at  work  here.  Strozza's 
opening  the  sarcophagus  clearly  spoiled  the 
scheme." 

"  And  led  to  the  death  — " 


142      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  Of  a  servant  of  Fu-Manchu.  Yes.  I  am  at 
a  loss  to  account  for  that." 

"Do  you  think  that  the  sarcophagus  entered 
into  the  scheme,  Smith?  " 

My  friend  looked  at  me  in  evident  perplexity. 

"  You  mean  that  its  arrival  at  the  time  when 
a  creature  of  the  Doctor  —  Kwee  —  was  con- 
cealed here,  may  have  been  a  coincidence?" 

I  nodded;  and  Smith  bent  over  the  sarcopha- 
gus, curiously  examining  the  garish  paintings 
with  which  it  was  decorated  inside  and  out.  It 
lay  sideways  upon  the  floor,  and  seizing  it  by 
its  edge,  he  turned  it  over. 

"  Heavy,"  he  muttered ;  "  but  Strozza  must- 
have  capsized  it  as  he  fell.  He  would  not  have 
laid  it  on  its  side  to  remove  the  lid.     Hallo !  " 

He  bent  farther  forward,  catching  at  a  piece 
of  twine,  and  out  of  the  mummy  case  pulled  a 
rubber  stopper  or  u  cork." 

"  This  was  stuck  in  a  hole  level  with  the  floor 
of  the  thing,"  he  said.  "  Ugh !  it  has  a  disgusting 
smell." 

I  took  it  from  his  hands,  and  was  about  to 
examine  it,  when  a  loud  voice  sounded  outside 
in  the  hall.  The  door  was  thrown  open,  and  a 
big  man,  who,  despite  the  warmth  of  the  weather, 
wore  a  fur-lined  overcoat,  rushed  impetuously 
into  the  room. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      143 

"  Sir  Lionel ! "  cried  Smith  eagerly.  "  I 
warned  you!  And  see,  you  have  had  a  very 
narrow  escape." 

Sir  Lionel  Barton  glanced  at  what  lay  upon 
the  floor,  then  from  Smith  to  myself,  and  from 
me  to  Inspector  Weymouth.  He  dropped  into 
one  of  the  few  chairs  unstacked  with  books. 

"  Mr.  Smith,"  he  said,  with  emotion,  "  what 
does  this  mean?     Tell  me  —  quickly." 

In  brief  terms  Smith  detailed  the  happenings 
of  the  night  —  or  so  much  as  he  knew  of  them. 
Sir  Lionel  Barton  listened,  sitting  quite  still  the 
while  —  an  unusual  repose  in  a  man  of  such  evi- 
dently tremendous  nervous  activity. 

"  He  came  for  the  jewels,"  he  said  slowly,  when 
Smith  was  finished;  and  his  eyes  turned  to  the 
body  of  the  dead  Italian.  "  I  was  wrong  to  sub- 
mit him  to  the  temptation.  God  knows  what 
Kwee  was  doing  in  hiding.  Perhaps  he  had 
come  to  murder  me,  as  you  surmise,  Mr.  Smith, 
though  I  find  it  hard  to  believe.  But  —  I  don't 
think  this  is  the  handiwork  of  your  Chinese  doc- 
tor."    He  fixed  his  gaze  upon  the  sarcophagus. 

Smith  stared  at  him  in  surprise.  "What  do 
you  mean,  Sir  Lionel?" 

The  famous  traveler  continued  to  look  towards 
the  sarcophagus  with  something  in  his  blue  eyes 
that  might  have  been  dread. 


144      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  I  received  a  wire  from  Professor  Rembold 
to-night,"  lie  continued.  "  You  were  correct  in 
supposing  that  no  one  but  Strozza  knew  of  my 
absence.  I  dressed  hurriedly  and  met  the  pro- 
fessor at  the  Traveler's.  He  knew  that  I  was 
to  read  a  paper  next  week  upon" — again  he 
looked  toward  the  mummy  case  — "  the  tomb  of 
Mekara;  and  he  knew  that  the  sarcophagus  had 
been  brought,  untouched,  to  England.  He 
begged  me  not  to  open  it." 

Nayland  Smith  was  studying  the  speaker's 
face. 

"  What  reason  did  he  give  for  so  extraordinary 
a  request?"  he  asked. 

Sir  Lionel  Barton  hesitated. 

"  One,"  he  replied  at  last,  "  which  amused  me 

—  at  the  time.     I  must  inform  you  that  Mekara 

—  whose  tomb  my  agent  had  discovered  during 
my  absence  in  Tibet,  and  to  enter  which  I  broke 
my  return  journey  to  Alexandria  —  was  a  high 
priest  and  first  prophet  of  Amen  —  under  the 
Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus;  in  short,  one  of  the 
magicians  who  contested  in  magic  arts  with 
Moses.  I  thought  the  discovery  unique,  until 
Professor  Rembold  furnished  me  with  some  curi- 
ous particulars  respecting  the  death  of  M.  Page 
le  Roi,  the  French  Egyptologist  —  particulars 
new  to  me." 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      145 

We  listened  in  growing  surprise,  scarcely 
knowing  to  what  this  tended. 

"  M.  le  Roi,"  continued  Barton,  u  discovered, 
but  kept  secret,  the  tomb  of  Amenti  —  another 
of  this  particular  brotherhood.  It  appears  that 
he  opened  the  mummy  case  on  the  spot  —  these 
priests  were  of  royal  line,  and  are  buried  in  the 
valley  of  Biban-le-Moluk.  His  Fellah  and  Arab 
servants  deserted  him  for  some  reason  —  on  see- 
ing the  mummy  case  —  and  he  was  found  dead, 
apparently  strangled,  beside  it.  The  matter  was 
hushed  up  by  the  Egyptian  Government.  Rem- 
bold  could  not  explain  why.  But  he  begged  of 
me  not  to  open  the  sarcophagus  of  Mekara." 

A  silence  fell. 

The  strange  facts  regarding  the  sudden  death 
of  Page  le  Roi,  which  I  now  heard  for  the  first 
time,  had  impressed  me  unpleasantly,  coming 
from  a  man  of  Sir  Lionel  Barton's  experience 
and  reputation. 

"  How  long  had  it  lain  in  the  docks?  "  jerked 
Smith. 

"  For  two  days,  I  believe.  I  am  not  a  super- 
stitious  man,  Mr.  Smith,  but  neither  is  Professor 
Rembold,  and  now  that  I  know  the  facts  re- 
specting Page  le  Roi,  I  can  find  it  in  my  heart  to 
thank  God  that  I  did  not  see  .  .  .  whatever  came 
out  of  that  sarcophagus." 


146      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

Nayland  Smith  stared  Mm  hard  in  the  face. 

"  I  am  glad  you  did  not,  Sir  Lionel/'  he  said ; 
"  for  whatever  the  priest  Mekara  has  to  do  with 
the  matter,  by  means  of  his  sarcophagus,  Dr.  Fu- 
Manchu  has  made  his  first  attempt  upon  your 
life.  He  has  failed,  but  I  hope  you  will  accom- 
pany me  from  here  to  a  hotel.  He  will  not  fail 
twice." 


Chapter  XII 

IT  was  the  night  following  that  of  the  double 
tragedy  at  Kowan  House.  Nayland  Smith, 
with  Inspector  Weymouth,  was  engaged  in 
some  mysterious  inquiry  at  the  docks,  and  I  had 
remained  at  home  to  resume  my  strange  chronicle. 
And  —  why  should  I  not  confess  it?  —  my  mem- 
ories had  frightened  me. 

I  was  arranging  my  notes  respecting  the  case 
of  Sir  Lionel  Barton.  They  were  hopelessly  in- 
complete. For  instance,  I  had  jotted  down  the 
following  queries: —  (1)  Did  any  true  parallel 
exist  between  the  death  of  M.  Page  le  Roi  and  the 
death  of  Kwee,  the  Chinaman,  and  of  Strozza? 

(2)  What  had  become  of  the  mummy  of  Mekara? 

(3)  How  had  the  murderer  escaped  from  a  locked 
room?  (4)  What  was  the  purpose  of  the  rub- 
ber stopper?  (5)  Why  was  Kwee  hiding  in  the 
conservatory?  (6)  Was  the  green  mist  a  mere 
subjective  hallucination  —  a  figment  of  Croxted's 
imagination  —  or  had  he  actually  seen  it? 

Until  these  questions  were  satisfactorily  an- 
swered, further  progress  was  impossible.    Nay;- 

147 


148      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

land  Smith  frankly  admitted  that  he  was  out 
of  his  depth.  "  It  looks,  on  the  face  of  it,  more 
like  a  case  for  the  Psychical  Research  people 
than  for  a  plain  Civil  Servant,  lately  of  Manda- 
lay,"  he  had  said  only  that  morning.  i 

"  Sir  Lionel  Barton  really  believes  that  super- 
natural agencies  were  brought  into  operation  by 
the  opening  of  the  high  priest's  coffin.  For  my 
part,  even  if  I  believed  the  same,  I  should  still 
maintain  that  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  controlled  those 
manifestations.  But  reason  it  out  for  yourself 
and  see  if  we  arrive  at  any  common  center.  Don'ti 
work  so  much  upon  the  datum  of  the  green  mist, 
but  keep  to  the  facts  which  are  established." 

I  commenced  to  knock  out  my  pipe  in  the  ash- 
tray ;  then  paused,  pipe  in  hand.  The  house  was 
quite  still,  for  my  landlady  and  all  the  small 
household  were  out. 

Above  the  noise  of  the  passing  tramcar  I 
thought  I  had  heard  the  hall  door  open.  In  the 
ensuing  silence  I  sat  and  listened. 

Not  a  sound.  Stay !  I  slipped  my  hand  into 
the  table  drawer,  took  out  my  revolver,  and  stood 
up. 

There  was  a  sound.  Someone  or  something 
was  creeping  upstairs  in  the  dark! 

Familiar  with  the  ghastly  media  employed  by 
the  Chinaman,  I  was  seized  with  an  impulse  to 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      149 

leap  to  the  door,  shut  and  lock  it.  But  the 
rustling  sound  proceeded,  now,  from  immediately 
outside  my  partially  opened  door.  I  had  not  the 
time  to  close  it;  knowing  somewhat  of  the  hor- 
rors at  the  command  of  Fu-Manchu,  I  had  not 
the  courage  to  open  it.  My  heart  leaping  wildly, 
and  my  eyes  upon  that  bar  of  darkness  with  its 
gruesome  potentialities,  I  waited  —  waited  for 
whatever  was  to  come.  Perhaps  twelve  seconds 
passed  in  silence. 

"Who's  there?"  I  cried.  "Answer,  or  I 
fire!" 

"  Ah !  no,"  came  a  soft  voice,  thrillingly  musi- 
cal. "  Put  it  down  —  that  pistol.  Quick !  I 
must  speak  to  you." 

The  door  was  pushed  open,  and  there  entered 
a  slim  figure  wrapped  in  a  hooded  cloak.  My 
hand  fell,  and  I  stood,  stricken  to  silence,  look- 
ing into  the  beautiful  dark  eyes  of  Dr.  Fu-Man- 
chu's  messenger  —  if  her  own  statement  could  be 
credited,  slave.  On  two  occasions  this  girl, 
whose  association  with  the  Doctor  was  one  of 
the  most  profound  mysteries  of  the  case,  had 
risked  —  I  cannot  say  what ;  unnameable  pun- 
ishment, perhaps  —  to  save  me  from  death;  in 
both  cases  from  a  terrible  death.  For  what  was 
she  come  now? 

Her  lips  slightly  parted,  she  stood,  holding 


150      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

her  cloak  about  her,  and  watching  me  with  greafi 
passionate  eyes. 

"  How  — "  I  began. 

But  she  shook  her  head  impatiently. 

"He  has  a  duplicate  key  of  the  house  door," 
was  her  amazing  statement.  "  I  have  never  be* 
trayed  a  secret  of  my  master  before,  but  you  musl; 
arrange  to  replace  the  lock." 

She  came  forward  and  rested  her  slim  hands*, 
confidingly  upon  my  shoulders.  "  I  have  come 
again  to  ask  you  to  take  me  away  from  him,'5 
she  said  simply. 

And  she  lifted  her  face  to  me. 

Her  words  struck  a  chord  in  my  heart  whicln 
sang  with  strange  music,  with  music  so  barbaric 
that,   frankly,    I   blushed   to   find   it   harmony 
Have  I  said  that  she  was  beautiful?     It  can  con 
vey  no  faint  conception  of  her.     With  her  pure., 
fair  skin,  eyes  like  the  velvet  darkness  of  the 
East,  and  red  lips  so  tremulously  near  to  mine,, 
she  was  the  most  seductively  lovely  creature  1 
ever  had  looked  upon.     In  that  electric  moment; 
my  heart  went  out  in  sympathy  to  every  man 
who    had   bartered   honor,    country,   all   for   a 
woman's  kiss. 

"  I  will  see  that  you  are  placed  under  proper 
protection,"  I  said  firmly,  but  my  voice  was  nofc 
quite  my  own.     "It  is  quite  absurd  to  talk  off 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      151 

slavery  here  in  England.  You  are  a  free  agent, 
or  you  could  not  be  here  now.  Dr.  Fu-Manchu 
cannot  control  your  actions." 

a  Ah !  "  she  cried,  casting  back  her  head  scorn- 
fully, and  releasing  a  cloud  of  hair,  through] 
whose  softness  gleamed  a  jeweled  head-dress^ 
*  No?  He  cannot?  Do  you  know  what  it  means 
to  have  been  a  slave?  Here,  in  your  free  Eng- 
land, do  you  know  what  it  means  —  the  razzia, 
the  desert  journey,  the  whips  of  the  drivers,  the 
house  of  the  dealer,  the  shame.     Bah ! w 

How  beautiful  she  was  in  her  indignation! 

"  Slavery  is  put  down,  you  imagine,  perhaps? 
You  do  not  believe  that  to-day  —  to-day — > 
twenty-five  English  sovereigns  will  buy  a  Galla 
girl,  who  is  brown,  and  " —  whisper  — "  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  a  Circassian,  who  is  white.  No, 
there  is  no  slavery!     So!     Then  what  am  I?" 

She  threw  open  her  cloak,  and  it  is  a  literal 
fact  that  I  rubbed  my  eyes,  half  believing  that 
I  dreamed.  For  beneath,  she  was  arrayed  in 
gossamer  silk  which  more  than  indicated  the 
perfect  lines  of  her  slim  shape;  wore  a  jeweled 
girdle  and  barbaric  ornaments;  was  a  figure  fit 
for  the  walled  gardens  of  Stamboul  —  a  figure 
amazing,  incomprehensible,  in  the  prosaic  setting 
of  my  rooms. 

"  To-night  I  had  no  time  to  make  myself  an 


152     THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU    i 

English  miss,"  she  said,  wrapping  her  cloak 
quickly  about  her.     "  You  see  me  as  I  am." 

Her  garments  exhaled  a  faint  perfume,  and  it 
reminded  me  of  another  meeting  I  had  had  with 
her.     I  looked  into  the  challenging  eyes. 

"  Your  request  is  but  a  pretense,"  I  said. 
"  Why  do  you  keep  the  secrets  of  that  man,  when 
they  mean  death  to  so  many?  " 

"  Death !  I  have  seen  my  own  sister  die  of 
fever  in  the  desert  —  seen  her  thrown  like  carrion 
into  a  hole  in  the  sand.  I  have  seen  men  flogged 
until  they  prayed  for  death  as  a  boon.  I  have 
known  the  lash  myself.  Death!  What  does  it 
matter?  " 

She  shocked  me  inexpressibly.  Enveloped  in 
her  cloak  again,  and  with  only  her  slight  accent 
to  betray  her,  it  was  dreadful  to  hear  such  words 
from  a  girl  who,  save  for  her  singular  type  of 
beauty,  might  have  been  a  cultured  European. 

"Prove,  then,  that  you  really  wish  to  leave 
this  man's  service.  Tell  me  what  killed  Strozza 
and  the  Chinaman,"  I  said. 

She  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"  I  do  not  know  that.  But  if  you  will  carry 
me  off  " —  she  clutched  me  nervously  — "  so  that 
I  am  helpless,  lock  me  up  so  that  I  cannot  escape, 
beat  me,  if  you  like,  I  will  tell  you  all  I  do  know. 
While  he  is  my  master  I  will  never  betray  him. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      153 

Tear  me  from  him  —  by  force,  do  you  under- 
stand, o\j  force,  and  my  lips  will  be  sealed  no 
longer.  Ah!  but  you  do  not  understand,  with 
your  ? proper  authorities' — your  police.  Po- 
lice!    Ah,  I  have  said  enough." 

A  clock  across  the  common  began  to  strike. 
The  girl  started  and  laid  her  hands  upon  my 
shoulders  again.  There  were  tears  glittering 
among  the  curved  black  lashes. 

"You  do  not  understand,"  she  whispered. 
"  Oh,  will  you  never  understand  and  release  me 
from  him !  I  must  go.  Already  I  have  remained 
too  long.  Listen.  Go  out  without  delay.  Ke- 
main  out  —  at  a  hotel,  where  you  will,  but  do 
not  stay  here." 

"And  Nayland  Smith?" 

"  What  is  he  to  me,  this  Nayland  Smith?  Ah, 
why  will  you  not  unseal  my  lips?  You  are  in 
danger  —  you  hear  me,  in  danger!  Go  away 
from  here  to-night." 

She  dropped  her  hands  and  ran  from  the  room. 
In  the  open  doorway  she  turned,  stamping  her 
foot  passionately. 

"  You  have  hands  and  arms,"  she  cried,  "  and 
yet  you  let  me  go.  Be  warned,  then;  fly  from 
here—"  She  broke  off  with  something  that 
sounded  like  a  sob. 

I  made  no  move  to  stay  her  —  this  beautiful 


154=      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

accomplice  of  the  arch-murderer,  Fu-Manchu.  I 
heard  her  light  footsteps  pattering  down  the 
stairs,  I  heard  her  open  and  close  the  door  — 
the  door  of  which  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  held  the  key. 
Still  I  stood  where  she  had  parted  from  me, 
and  was  so  standing  when  a  key  grated  in  the 
lock  and  Nayland  Smith  came  running  up. 

"  Did  you  see  her?  "  I  began. 

But  his  face  showed  that  he  had  not  done  so, 
and  rapidly  I  told  him  of  my  strange  visitor,  of 
her  words,  of  her  warning. 

"  How  can  she  have  passed  through  London 
in  that  costume?"  I  cried  in  bewilderment. 
"  Where  can  she  have  come  from?  " 

Smith  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  began  to 
stuff  broad-cut  mixture  into  the  familiar  cracked 
briar. 

"  She  might  have  traveled  in  a  car  or  in  a 
cab,"  he  said ;  "  and  undoubtedly  she  came  direct 
from  the  house  of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu.  You  should 
have  detained  her,  Petrie.  It  is  the  third  time 
we  have  had  that  woman  in  our  power,  the  third 
time  we  have  let  her  go  free." 

"  Smith,"  I  replied,  "  I  couldn't.  She  came  of 
her  own  free  will  to  give  me  a  warning.  She 
disarms  me." 

"  Because  you  can  see  she  is  in  love  with 
you?"  he  suggested,  and  burst  into  one  of  his 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      155 

rare  laughs  when  the  angry  flush  rose  to  my 
cheek.  "  She  is,  Petrie  —  why  pretend  to  be 
blind  to  it?  You  don't  know  the  Oriental  mind 
as  I  do;  but  I  quite  understand  the  girl's  posi- 
tion. She  fears  the  English  authorities,  but 
would  submit  to  capture  by  you!  If  you  would 
only  seize  her  by  the  hair,  drag  her  to  some  cel- 
lar, hurl  her  down  and  stand  over  her  with  a 
whip,  she  would  tell  you  everything  she  knows, 
and  salve  her  strange  Eastern  conscience  with 
the  reflection  that  speech  was  forced  from  her. 
I  am  not  joking;  it  is  so,  I  assure  you.  And  she 
would  adore  you  for  your  savagery,  deeming  you 
forceful  and  strong !  " 

"  Smith,"  I  said,  "  be  serious.  You  know 
what  her  warning  meant  before." 

"  I  can  guess  what  it  means  now,"  he  rapped. 
"  Hallo !  " 

Someone  was  furiously  ringing  the  bell. 

"  No  one  at  home  ?  "  said  my  friend.  "  I  will 
go.     I  think  I  know  what  it  is." 

A  few  minutes  later  he  returned,  carrying  a 
large  square  package. 

"  From  Weymouth,"  he  explained,  "  by  district 
messenger.  I  left  him  behind  at  the  docks,  and 
he  arranged  to  forward  any  evidence  which  sub- 
sequently he  found.  This  will  be  fragments  of 
the  mummy." 


156      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"What!  You  think  the  mummy  was  ab- 
stracted? " 

"Yes,  at  the  docks.  I  am  sure  of  it;  and 
somebody  else  was  in  the  sarcophagus  when  it 
reached  Eowan  House.  A  sarcophagus,  I  find, 
is  practically  airtight,  so  that  the  use  of  the  rub- 
ber stopper  becomes  evident  —  ventilation. 
How  this  person  killed  Strozza  I  have  yet  to 
learn." 

"Also,  how  he  escaped  from  a  locked  room. 
And  what  about  the  green  mist?  " 

Nayland  Smith  spread  his  hands  in  a  charac- 
teristic gesture. 

"  The  green  mist,  Petrie,  can  be  explained  in 
several  ways.  Remember,  we  have  only  one 
man's  word  that  it  existed.  It  is  at  best  a 
confusing  datum,  to  which  we  must  not  attach 
a  fictitious  importance." 

He  threw  the  wrappings  on  the  floor  and 
tugged  at  a  twine  loop  in  the  lid  of  the  square 
box,  which  now  stood  upon  the  table.  Suddenly 
the  lid  came  away,  bringing  with  it  a  lead  lin- 
ing, such  as  is  usual  in  tea-chests.  This  lining 
was  partially  attached  to  one  side  of  the  box, 
bo  that  the  action  of  removing  the  lid  at  once 
raised  and  tilted  it. 

Then  happened  a  singular  thing. 

Out  over  the  table  billowed  a  sort  of  yellowish- 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      157 

green  cloud  —  an  oily  vapor  —  and  an  inspira- 
tion, it  was  nothing  less,  born  of  a  memory  and 
of  some  words  of  my  beautiful  visitor,  came  to 
me. 

"Run,  Smith!"  I  screamed.  "The  door!  the 
door,  for  your  life !     Fu-Manchu  sent  that  box !  " 

I  threw  my  arms  round  him.  As  he  bent  for- 
ward the  moving  vapor  rose  almost  to  his  nostrils. 
I  dragged  him  back  and  all  but  pitched  him  out 
on  to  the  landing.  We  entered  my  bedroom,  and 
there,  as  I  turned  on  the  light,  I  saw  that  Smith's 
tanned  face  was  unusually  drawn,  and  touched 
with  pallor. 

"  It  is  a  poisonous  gas !  "  I  said  hoarsely ;  "  in 
many  respects  identical  with  chlorine,  but  hav- 
ing unique  properties  which  prove  it  to  be  some- 
thing else  —  God  and  Fu-Manchu,  alone  know 
what!  It  is  the  fumes  of  chlorine  that  kill  the 
men  in  the  bleaching  powder  works.  We  have 
been  blind  —  I  particularly.  Don't  you  see? 
There  was  no  one  in  the  sarcophagus,  Smith,  but 
there  was  enough  of  that  fearful  stuff  to  have 
suffocated  a  regiment !  " 

Smith  clenched  his  fists  convulsively. 

"  My  God !  "  he  said,  "  how  can  I  hope  to  deal 
with  the  author  of  such  a  scheme?  I  see  the 
whole  plan.  He  did  not  reckon  on  the  mummy 
case  being  overturned,  and  Kwee's  part  was  to 


158      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

remove  the  plug  with  the  aid  of  the  string  — 
after  Sir  Lionel  had  been  suffocated.  The  gas, 
I  take  it,  is  heavier  than  air." 

"  Chlorine  gas  has  a  specific  gravity  of  2.470," 
I  said ;  "  two  and  a  half  times  heavier  than  air. 
You  can  pour  it  from  jar  to  jar  like  a  liquid  — 
if  you  are  wearing  a  chemist's  mask.  In  these 
respects  this  stuff  appears  to  be  similar;  the 
points  of  difference  would  not  interest  you. 
The  sarcophagus  would  have  emptied  through  the 
vent,  and  the  gas  have  dispersed,  with  no  clew 
remaining  —  except  the  smell." 

"  I  did  smell  it,  Petrie,  on  the  stopper,  but, 
of  course,  was  unfamiliar  with  it.  You  may  re- 
member that  you  were  prevented  from  doing  so 
by  the  arrival  of  Sir  Lionel?  The  scent  of  those 
infernal  flowers  must  partially  have  drowned  it, 
too.  Poor,  misguided  Strozza  inhaled  the  stuff, 
capsized  the  case  in  his  fall,  and  all  the  gas — " 

"  Went  pouring  under  the  conservatory  door, 
and  down  the  steps,  where  Kwee  was  crouching. 
Croxted's  breaking  the  window  created  sufficient 
draught  to  disperse  what  little  remained.  It 
will  have  settled  on  the  floor  now.  I  will  go 
and  open  both  windows." 

Nayland  raised  his  haggard  face. 

"  He  evidently  made  more  than  was  necessary 
to  dispatch  Sir  Lionel  Barton,"  he  said ;  "  and 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      159 

contemptuously  —  you  note  the  attitude,  Petrie? 
—  contemptuously  devoted  the  surplus  to  me. 
His  contempt  is  justified.  I  am  a  child  striving 
to  cope  with  a  mental  giant.  It  is  by  no  wit  of 
mine  that  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  scores  a  double 
failure." 


Chapter  XIII 

I  WILL  tell  you,  now  of  a  strange  dream  which 
I  dreamed,  and  of  the  stranger  things  to 
which  I  awakened.  Since,  out  of  a  blank 
—  a  void  —  this  vision  burst  in  upon  my  mind, 
I  cannot  do  better  than  relate  it,  without  pre- 
amble.    It  was  thus : 

I  dreamed  that  I  lay  writhing  on  the  floor  in 
agony  indescribable.  My  veins  were  filled  with 
liquid  fire,  and  but  that  stygian  darkness  was 
about  me,  I  told  myself  that  I  must  have  seen 
the  smoke  arising  from  my  burning  body. 

This,  I  thought,  was  death. 

Then,  a  cooling  shower  descended  upon  me, 
soaked  through  skin  and  tissue  to  the  tortured 
arteries  and  quenched  the  fire  within.  Panting, 
but  free  from  pain,  I  lay  —  exhausted. 

Strength  gradually  returning  to  me,  I  tried  to 
rise;  but  the  carpet  felt  so  singularly  soft  that 
it  offered  me  no  foothold.  I  waded  and  plunged 
like  a  swimmer  treading  water;  and  all  about 
me  rose  impenetrable  walls  of  darkness,  dark- 
ness all  but  palpable.     I  wondered  why  I  could 

160 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      161 

not  see  the  windows.  The  horrible  idea  flashed 
to  my  mind  that  I  was  become  blind ! 

Somehow  I  got  upon  my  feet,  and  stood  sway- 
ing dizzily.  I  became  aware  of  a  heavy  perfume, 
and  knew  it  for  some  kind  of  incense. 

Then  —  a  dim  light  was  born,  at  an  immeas- 
urable distance  away.  It  grew  steadily  in  bril- 
liance. It  spread  like  a  bluish-red  stain  —  like 
a  liquid.  It  lapped  up  the  darkness  and  spread 
throughout  the  room. 

But  this  was  not  my  room!  Nor  was  it  any 
room  known  to  me. 

It  was  an  apartment  of  such  size  that  its  di- 
mensions filled  me  with  a  kind  of  awe  such  as  I 
never  had  known:  the  awe  of  walled  vastness. 
Its  immense  extent  produced  a  sensation  of 
sound.     Its  hugeness  had  a  distinct  note. 

Tapestries  covered  the  four  walls.  There  was 
no  door  visible.  These  tapestries  were  magnifi- 
cently figured  with  golden  dragons;  and  as  the 
serpentine  bodies  gleamed  and  shimmered  in  the 
increasing  radiance,  each  dragon,  I  thought,  in- 
tertwined its  glittering  coils  more  closely  with 
those  of  another.  The  carpet  was  of  such  rich- 
ness that  I  stood  knee-deep  in  its  pile.  And  this, 
too,  was  fashioned  all  over  with  golden  dragons ; 
and  they  seemed  to  glide  about  amid  the  shadows 
of  the  design  —  stealthily. 


162      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

At  the  farther  end  of  the  hall  —  for  hall  it 
was  —  a  huge  table  with  dragons'  legs  stood 
solitary  amid  the  luxuriance  of  the  carpet.  It 
bore  scintillating  globes,  and  tubes  that  held 
living  organisms,  and  books  of  a  size  and  in  such 
bindings  as  I  never  had  imagined,  with  instru- 
ments of  a  type  unknown  to  Western  science 
- —  a  heterogeneous  litter  quite  indescribable, 
which  overflowed  on  to  the  floor,  forming  an 
amazing  oasis  in  a  dragon-haunted  desert  of  car- 
pet. A  lamp  hung  above  this  table,  suspended 
by  golden  chains  from  the  ceiling  —  which  was 
so  lofty  that,  following  the  chains  upward,  my 
gaze  lost  itself  in  the  purple  shadows  above. 

In  a  chair  piled  high  with  dragon-covered 
cushions  a  man  sat  behind  this  table.  The  light 
from  the  swinging  lamp  fell  fully  upon  one  side 
of  his  face,  as  he  leaned  forward  amid  the  jumble 
of  weird  objects,  and  left  the  other  side  in 
purplish  shadow.  From  a  plain  brass  bowl  upon 
the  corner  of  the  huge  table  smoke  writhed  aloft 
and  at  times  partially  obscured  that  dreadful 
face. 

From  the  instant  that  my  eyes  were  drawn  to 
the  table  and  to  the  man  who  sat  there,  neither 
the  incredible  extent  of  the  room,  nor  the  night- 
mare fashion  of  its  mural  decorations,  could  re- 
claim my  attention.     I  had  eyes  only  for  hiia. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      163 

For  it  was  Dr.  Fu-Manchu ! 

Something  of  the  delirium  which  had  seemed 
to  fill  my  veins  with  fire,  to  people  the  walls 
with  dragons,  and  to  plunge  me  knee-deep  in  the 
carpet,  left  me.  Those  dreadful,  filmed  green 
eyes  acted  somewhat  like  a  cold  douche.  I  knew, 
without  removing  my  gaze  from  the  still  face, 
that  the  walls  no  longer  lived,  but  were  merely 
draped  in  exquisite  Chinese  dragon  tapestry. 
The  rich  carpet  beneath  my  feet  ceased  to  be  as 
a  jungle  and  became  a  normal  carpet  —  extraor- 
dinarily rich,  but  merely  a  carpet.  But  the 
sense  of  vastness  nevertheless  remained,  with  the 
uncomfortable  knowledge  that  the  things  upon 
the  table  and  overflowing  about  it  were  all,  or 
nearly  all,  of  a  fashion  strange  to  me. 

Then,  and  almost  instantaneously,  the  compar- 
ative sanity  which  I  had  temporarily  experienced 
began  to  slip  from  me  again ;  for  the  smoke  faintly 
penciled  through  the  air  —  from  the  burning  per- 
fume on  the  table  —  grew  in  volume,  thickened, 
and  wafted  towards  me  in  a  cloud  of  gray  horror. 
It  enveloped  me,  clammily.  Dimly,  through  its 
oily  wreaths,  I  saw  the  immobile  yellow  face 
of  Fu-Manchu.  And  my  stupefied  brain  ac- 
claimed him  a  sorcerer,  against  whom  unwit- 
tingly we  had  pitted  our  poor  human  wits.  The 
green  eyes  showed  filmy  through  the  fog.    An 


CL64     THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

intense  pain  shot  through  my  lower  limbs,  and, 
catching  my  breath,  I  looked  down.  As  I  did 
so,  the  points  of  the  red  slippers  which  I  dreamed 
that  I  wore  increased  in  length,  curled  sinuously 
upward,  twined  about  my  throat  and  choked  the 
breath  from  my  body! 

Came  an  interval,  and  then  a  dawning  like 
consciousness;  but  it  was  a  false  consciousness, 
since  it  brought  with  it  the  idea  that  my  head 
lay  softly  pillowed  and  that  a  woman's  hand 
caressed  my  throbbing  forehead.  Confusedly,  as 
though  in  the  remote  past,  I  recalled  a  kiss  — 
and  the  recollection  thrilled  me  strangely. 
Dreamily  content  I  lay,  and  a  voice  stole  to  my 
ears: 

"  They  are  killing  him !  they  are  killing  him ! 
!Oh!  do  you  not  understand?  " 

In  my  dazed  condition,  I  thought  that  it  was 
I  who  had  died,  and  that  this  musical  girl-voice 
was  communicating  to  me  the  fact  of  my  own 
dissolution. 

But  I  was  conscious  of  no  interest  in  the 
matter. 

For  hours  and  hours,  I  thought,  that  soothing 
hand  caressed  me.  I  never  once  raised  my  heavy 
lids,  until  there  came  a  resounding  crash  that 
seemed  to  set  my  very  bones  vibrating  —  a  me- 
tallic, jangling  crash,  as  the  fall  of  heavy  chains. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      165 

t  thought  that,  then,  I  half  opened  my  eyes,  and 
that  in  the  dimness  I  had  a  fleeting  glimpse  of 
a  figure  clad  in  gossamer  silk,  with  arms  covered 
with  barbaric  bangles  and  slim  ankles  sur- 
rounded by  gold  bands.  The  girl  was  gone,  even 
as  I  told  myself  that  she  was  an  houri,  and  that 
I,  though  a  Christian,  had  been  consigned  by  some 
error  to  the  paradise  of  Mohammed. 
Then  —  a  complete  blank. 


My  head  throbbed  madly;  my  brain  seemed 
to  be  clogged  —  inert ;  and  though  my  first,  feeble 
movement  was  followed  by  the  rattle  of  a  chain, 
some  moments  more  elapsed  ere  I  realized  that 
the  chain  was  fastened  to  a  steel  collar  —  that 
the  steel  collar  was  clasped  about  my  neck. 

I  moaned  weakly. 

"Smith!"  I  muttered,  "Where  are  you? 
Smith !  " 

On  to  my  knees  I  struggled,  and  the  pain  on 
the  top  of  my  skull  grew  all  but  insupportable. 
It  was  coming  back  to  me  now;  how  Nay  land 
Smith  and  I  had  started  for  the  hotel  to  warn 
Graham  Guthrie ;  how,  as  we  passed  up  the  steps 
from  the  Embankment  and  into  Essex  Street, 
we  saw  the  big  motor  standing  before  the  door 


166      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

of  one  of  the  offices.  I  could  recall  coming  up 
level  with  the  car  —  a  modern  limousine;  but 
my  mind  retained  no  impression  of  our  having 
passed  it  —  only  a  vague  memory  of  a  rush  of 
footsteps  —  a  blow.  Then,  my  vision  of  the  hall 
of  dragons,  and  now  this  real  awakening  to  a 
worse  reality. 

Groping  in  the  darkness,  my  hands  touched  a 
body  that  lay  close  beside  me.  My  fingers  sought 
and  found  the  throat,  sought  and  found  the  steel 
collar  about  it. 

"  Smith,"  I  groaned ;  and  I  shook  the  still 
form.  "  Smith,  old  man  —  speak  to  me ! 
Smith!" 

Could  he  be  dead?  Was  this  the  end  of  his  gal- 
lant fight  with  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  and  the  murder 
group?  If  so,  what  did  the  future  hold  for  me 
? — what  had  I  to  face? 

He  stirred  beneath  my  trembling  hands. 

"  Thank  God !  "  I  muttered,  and  I  cannot  deny 
that  my  joy  was  tainted  with  selfishness.  For, 
waking  in  that  impenetrable  darkness,  and  yet 
obsessed  with  the  dream  I  had  dreamed,  I  had 
known  what  fear  meant,  at  the  realization  that 
alone,  chained,  I  must  face  the  dreadful  Chinese 
doctor  in  the  flesh. 

Smith  began  incoherent  mutterings. 

"  Sand-bagged !  .  .  .  Look    put,    Petrie !  .  .  . 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      167 

He  has  us  at  last !  .  .  .  Oh,  Heavens ! "  .  .  .  He 
struggled  on  to  his  knees,  clutching  at  my  hand. 

"  All  right,  old  man/'  I  said.  "  We  are  both 
alive!     So  let's  be  thankful." 

A  moment's  silence,  a  groan,  then: 

"  Petrie,  I  have  dragged  you  into  this.  God 
forgive  me — " 

"  Dry  up,  Smith,"  I  said  slowly.  "  I'm  not  a 
child.  There  is  no  question  of  being  dragged 
into  the  matter.  I'm  here ;  and  if  I  can  be  of  any 
use,  Fm  glad  I  am  here !  " 

He  grasped  my  hand. 

"  There  were  two  Chinese,  in  European 
clothes  —  lord,  how  my  head  throbs !  —  in  that, 
office  door.  They  sand-bagged  us,  Petrie  — 
think  of  it !  —  in  broad  daylight,  within  hail  of 
the  Strand !  We  were  rushed  into  the  car  —  and 
it  was  all  over,  before  — "  His  voice  grew  faint. 
"  God !  they  gave  me  an  awful  knock !  " 

"  Why  have  we  been  spared,  Smith?  Do  you 
think  he  is  saving  us  for  — " 

"  Don't,  Petrie !  If  you  had  been  in  China, 
if  you  had  seen  what  I  have  seen  — " 

Footsteps  sounded  on  the  flagged  passage.  A 
blade  of  light  crept  across  the  floor  towards  us. 
My  brain  was  growing  clearer.  The  place  had 
a  damp,  earthen  smell.  It  was  slimy  —  some 
noisome  cellar.    A  door  was  thrown  open  and 


168     THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

a  man  entered,  carrying  a  lantern.  Its  light 
showed  my  surmise  to  be  accurate,  showed  the 
slime-coated  walls  of  a  dungeon  some  fifteen  feet 
square  —  shone  upon  the  long  yellow  robe  of  the 
man  who  stood  watching  us,  upon  the  malignant, 
intellectual  countenance. 

It  was  Dr.  Fu-Manchu. 

At  last  they  were  face  to  face  —  the  head  of 
the  great  Yellow  Movement,  and  the  man  who 
fought  on  behalf  of  the  entire  white  race.  How 
can  I  paint  the  individual  who  now  stood  before 
us  —  perhaps  the  greatest  genius  of  modern 
times? 

Of  him  it  had  been  fitly  said  that  he  had  a 
brow  like  Shakespeare  and  a  face  like  Satan. 
Something  serpentine,  hypnotic,  was  in  his  very 
presence.  Smith  drew  one  sharp  breath,  and 
was  silent.  Together,  chained  to  the  wall,  two 
mediaeval  captives,  living  mockeries  of  our 
boasted  modern  security,  we  crouched  before  Dr. 
Fu-Manchu. 

He  came  forward  with  an  indescribable  gait, 
cat-like  yet  awkward,  carrying  his  high  shoulders 
almost  hunched.  He  placed  the  lantern  in  a 
niche  in  the  wall,  never  turning  away  the  rep- 
tilian gaze  of  those  eyes  which  must  haunt  my 
dreams  forever.    They  possessed  a  viridescence 


•     THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      169 

which  hitherto  I  had  supposed  possible  only  in 
the  eye  of  the  cat  —  and  the  film  intermittently 
clouded  their  brightness  —  but  I  can  speak  of 
them  no  more. 

I  had  never  supposed,  prior  to  meeting  Dr. 
Fu-Manchu,  that  so  intense  a  force  of  malignancy 
could  radiate  —  from  any  human  being.  He 
spoke.  His  English  was  perfect,  though  at  times 
his  words  were  oddly  chosen;  his  delivery  alter- 
nately was  guttural  and  sibilant. 

"  Mr.  Smith  and  Dr.  Petrie,  your  interference 
with  my  plans  has  gone  too  far.  I  have  seri- 
ously turned  my  attention  to  you." 

He  displayed  his  teeth,  small  and  evenly  sep- 
arated, but  discolored  in  a  way  that  was  familiar 
to  me.  I  studied  his  eyes  with  a  new  professional 
interest,  which  even  the  extremity  of  our  danger 
could  not  wholly  banish.  Their  greenness 
seemed  to  be  of  the  iris;  the  pupil  was  oddly 
contracted  —  a  pin-point. 

Smith  leaned  his  back  against  the  wall  with 
assumed  indifference. 

"  You  have  presumed,"  continued  Fu-Manchu, 
"  io  meddle  with  a  world-change.  Poor  spiders 
—  caught  in  the  wheels  of  the  inevitable !  You 
have  linked  my  name  with  the  futility  of  the 
Young  China  Movement  —  the  name  of  Fu-Man- 


170      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

chu!  Mr.  Smith,  you  are  an  incompetent  med- 
dler —  I  despise  you !  Dr.  Petrie,  you  are  a  fool 
—  I  am  sorry  for  you !  " 

He  rested  one  bony  hand  on  his  hip,  narrow- 
ing the  long  eyes  as  he  looked  down  on  us.  The 
purposeful  cruelty  of  the  man  was  inherent;  it 
was  entirely  untheatrical.  Still  Smith  remained 
silent. 

"  So  I  am  determined  to  remove  you  from  the 
scene  of  your  blunders !  "  added  Fu-Manchu. 

"  Opium  will  very  shortly  do  the  same  for 
you !  "  I  rapped  at  him  savagely. 

Without  emotion  he  turned  the  narrowed  eyes 
upon  me. 

"  That  is  a  matter  of  opinion,  Doctor/'  he  said. 
"  You  may  have  lacked  the  opportunities  which 
have  been  mine  for  studying  that  subject  —  and 
in  any  event  I  shall  not  be  privileged  to  enjoy 
your  advice  in  the  future." 

"  You  will  not  long  outlive  me,"  I  replied. 
"And  our  deaths  will  not  profit  you,  inciden- 
tally ;  because  — "     Smith's  foot  touched  mine. 

"Because?"  inquired  Fu-Manchu  softly. 
"  Ah !  Mr.  Smith  is  so  prudent !  He  is  thinking 
that  I  have  files!"  He  pronounced  the  word  in 
a  way  that  made  me  shudder.  "  Mr.  Smith  has 
seen  a  wire  jacket!    Have  you  ever  seen  a  wire 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      171' 

jacket?  As  a  surgeon  its  functions  would  in- 
terest you ! " 

I  stifled  a  cry  that  rose  to  my  lips;  for,  with 
a  shrill  whistling  sound,  a  small  shape  came 
bounding  into  the  dimly  lit  vault,  then  shot  up- 
ward. A  marmoset  landed  on  the  shoulder  of 
Dr.  Fu-Manchu  and  peered  grotesquely  into  the 
dreadful  yellow  face.  The  Doctor  raised  his 
bony  hand  and  fondled  the  little  creature,  croon- 
ing to  it. 

"  One  of  my  pets,  Mr.  Smith/'  he  said,  sud-» 
denly  opening  his  eyes  fully  so  that  they  blazed 
like  green  lamps.  "  I  have  others,  equally  use- 
ful. My  scorpions  —  have  you  met  my  scor- 
pions? No?  My  pythons  and  hamadryads? 
Then  there  are  my  fungi  and  my  tiny  allies,  the 
bacilli.  I  have  a  collection  in  my  laboratory 
quite  unique.  Have  you  ever  visited  Molokai, 
the  leper  island,  Doctor?  No?  But  Mr.  Nay- 
land  Smith  will  be  familiar  with  the  asylum  at 
Rangoon!  And  we  must  not  forget  my  black 
spiders,  with  their  diamond  eyes  —  my  spiders, 
that  sit  in  the  dark  and  watch  —  then  leap !  " 

He  raised  his  lean  hands,  so  that  the  sleeve  of 
the  robe  fell  back  to  the  elbow,  and  the  ape 
dropped,  chattering,  to  the  floor  and  ran  from  the 
cellar. 


172      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MAITCHU 

"O  God  of  Cathay!"  he  cried,  "by  what 
death  shall  these  die  —  these  miserable  ones  who 
would  bind  thine  Empire,  which  is  boundless ! " 

Like  some  priest  of  Tezcat  he  stood,  his  eyes 
I  upraised  to  the  roof,  his  lean  body  quivering  — 
J  a  sight  to  shock  the  most  unimpressionable  mind. 

"  He  is  mad !  "  I  whispered  to  Smith.  "  God 
help  us,  the  man  is  a  dangerous  homicidal 
maniac !  " 

Nayland  Smith's  tanned  face  was  very  drawn, 
but  he  shook  his  head  grimly. 

"  Dangerous,  yes,  I  agree,"  he  muttered ;  "  his 
existence  is  a  danger  to  the  entire  white  race 
which,  now,  we  are  powerless  to  avert." 

Dr.  Fu-Manchu  recovered  himself,  took  up  the 
lantern  and,  turning  abruptly,  walked  to  the 
door,  with  his  awkward,  yet  feline  gait.  At 
the  threshold  he  looked  back. 

"You  would  have  warned  Mr.  Graham 
Guthrie?"  he  said,  in  a  soft  voice.  "To-night, 
at  half-past  twelve,  Mr.  Graham  Guthrie  dies !  " 

Smith  sat  silent  and  motionless,  his  eyes  fixed 
upon  the  speaker. 

"You  were  in  Rangoon  in  1908?"  continued 
Dr.  Fu-Manchu — "you  remember  the  Call?" 

From  somewhere  above  us  —  I  could  not  de- 
termine the  exact  direction  —  came  a  low,  wail- 
ing cry,  an  uncanny  thing  of  falling  cadences, 


THE  INSIDIOUS  BR.  FU-MANCHU     173 

which,  in  that  dismal  vault,  with  the  sinister 
yellow-robed  figure  at  the  door,  seemed  to  pour 
ice  into  my  veins.  Its  effect  upon  Smith  was 
truly  extraordinary.  His  face  showed  grayly 
in  the  faint  light,  and  I  heard  him  draw  a  hiss- 
ing breath  through  clenched  teeth. 

"  It  calls  for  you !  "  said  Fu-Manchu.  "  At 
half-past  twelve  it  calls  for  Graham  Guthrie !  " 

The  door  closed  and  darkness  mantled  us 
again. 

"Smith,"  I  said,  "what  was  that?"  The 
horrors  about  us  were  playing  havoc  with  my 
nerves. 

"It  was  the  Call  of  Siva!"  replied  Smith 
hoarsely. 

"What  is  it?  Who  uttered  it?  What  does 
it  mean  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  what  it  is,  Petrie,  nor  who 
utters  it.     But  it  means  death !  " 


Chapter  XIV 

iHEKE  may  be  some  who  could  have  lain, 
chained  to  that  noisome  cell,  and  felt  no 
fear  —  no  dread  of  what  the  blackness 
might  hold.  I  confess  that  I  am  not  one  of 
these.  I  knew  that  Nayland  Smith  and  I  stood 
in  the  path  of  the  most  stupendous  genius  who 
in  the  world's  history  had  devoted  his  intellect 
to  crime.  I  knew  that  the  enormous  wealth  of 
the  political  group  backing  Dr.  Fu-Manchu 
rendered  him  a  menace  to  Europe  and  to  Amer- 
ica greater  than  that  of  the  plague.  He  was  a 
scientist  trained  at  a  great  university  —  an  ex- 
plorer of  nature's  secrets,  who  had  gone  farther 
into  the  unknown,  I  suppose,  than  any  living 
man.  His  mission  was  to  remove  all  obstacles 
—  human  obstacles  —  from  the  path  of  that 
secret  movement  which  was  progressing  in  the 
Far  East.  Smith  and  I  were  two  such  obstacles ; 
and  of  all  the  horrible  devices  at  his  command, 
I  wondered,  and  my  tortured  brain  refused  to 
leave  the  subject,  by  which  of  them  were  we 
doomed  to  be  dispatched? 

174 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      175 

Even  at  that  very  moment  some  venomous  cen- 
tipede might  be  wriggling  towards  me  over  the 
slime  of  the  stones,  some  poisonous  spider  be 
preparing  to  drop  from  the  roof!  Fu-Manchu 
might  have  released  a  serpent  in  the  cellar,  or 
the  air  be  alive  with  microbes  of  a  loathsome 
disease ! 

"  Smith/*  I  said,  scarcely  recognizing  my  own 
voice,  "  I  can't  bear  this  suspense.  He  intends 
to  kill  us,  that  is  certain,  but — " 

"  Don't  worry,"  came  the  reply ;  "  he  intends 
to  learn  our  plans  first." 

"  You  mean  — ?  v 

"  You  heard  him  speak  of  his  files  and  of  his 
wire  jacket?  " 

"  Oh,  my  God ! "  I  groaned ;  "  can  this  be 
England?" 

Smith  laughed  dryly,  and  I  heard  him  fum- 
bling with  the  steel  collar  about  his  neck. 

"  I  have  one  great  hope,"  he  said,  "  since  you 
share  my  captivity,  but  we  must  neglect  no 
minor  chance.  Try  with  your  pocket-knife  if 
you  can  force  the  lock.  I  am  trying  to  break 
this  one." 

Truth  to  tell,  the  idea  had  not  entered  my 
half-dazed  mind,  but  I  immediately  acted  upon 
my  friend's  suggestion,  setting  to  work  with  the 
small  blade  of  my  knife.     I  was  so  engaged, 


176      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

and,  having  snapped  one  blade,  was  about  £6 
open  another,  when  a  sound  arrested  me.  It 
came  from  beneath  my  feet. 

"  Smith,"  I  whispered,  "  listen !  " 

The  scraping  and  clicking  which  told  of 
Smith's  efforts  ceased.  Motionless,  we  sat  in 
that  humid  darkness  and  listened. 

Something  was  moving  beneath  the  stones  of 
the  cellar.  I  held  my  breath;  every  nerve  in 
my  body  was  strung  up. 

A  line  of  light  showed  a  few  feet  from  where 
we  lay.  It  widened  —  became  an  oblong.  A 
trap  was  lifted,  and  within  a  yard  of  me,  there 
rose  a  dimly  seen  head.  Horror  I  had  expected 
—  and  death,  or  worse.  Instead,  I  saw  a  lovely 
face,  crowned  with  a  disordered  mass  of  curling 
hair;  I  saw  a  white  arm  upholding  the  stone 
slab,  a  shapely  arm  clasped  about  the  elbow  by 
a  broad  gold  bangle. 

The  girl  climbed  into  the  cellar  and  placed 
the  lantern  on  the  stone  floor.  In  the  dim  light 
she  was  unreal  —  a  figure  from  an  opium  vision, 
with  her  clinging  silk  draperies  and  garish 
jewelry,  with  her  feet  encased  in  little  red 
slippers.  In  short,  this  was  the  houri  of  my 
vision,  materialized.  It  was  difficult  to  believe 
that  we  were  in  modern,  up-to-date  England; 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      177 

easy  to  dream  that  we  were  the  captives  of  a 
caliph,  in  a  dungeon  in  old  Bagdad. 

"My  prayers  are  answered/7  said  Smith' 
softly.     "  She  has  come  to  save  you." 

"  S-sh ! "  warned  the  girl,  and  her  wonderful 
eyes  opened  widely,  fearfully.  "A  sound  and 
he  will  kill  us  all." 

She  bent  over  me;  a  key  jarred  in  the  lock 
which  had  broken  my  penknife  —  and  the  collar 
was  off.  As  I  rose  to  my  feet  the  girl  turned 
and  released  Smith.  She  raised  the  lantern 
above  the  trap,  and  signed  to  us  to  descend  the 
wooden  steps  which  its  light  revealed. 

"  Your  knife,"  she  whispered  to  me.  "  Leave 
it  on  the  floor.  He  will  think  you  forced  the 
locks.     Down !     Quickly !  " 

Nayland  Smith,  stepping  gingerly,  disap- 
peared into  the  darkness.  I  rapidly  followed. 
Last  of  all  came  our  mysterious  friend,  a  gold 
band  about  one  of  her  ankles  gleaming  in  the 
rays  of  the  lantern  which  she  carried.  We 
stood  in  a  low-arched  passage. 

"  Tie  your  handkerchiefs  over  your  eyes  and 
do  exactly  as  I  tell  you,"  she  ordered. 

Neither  of  us  hesitated  to  obey  her.  Blind- 
folded, I  allowed  her  to  lead  me,  and  Smith  rested 
his  hand  upon  my  shoulder.     In  that  order  we 


178      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

proceeded,  and  came  to  stone  steps,  which  we 
ascended. 

"Keep  to  the  wall  on  the  left,"  came  a  whis- 
per.    "  There  is  danger  on  the  right." 

With  my  free  hand  I  felt  for  and  found  the 
wall,  and  we  pressed  forward.  The  atmosphere 
of  the  place  through  which  we  were  passing  was 
steamy,  and  loaded  with  an  odor  like  that  of 
exotic  plant  life.  But  a  faint  animal  scent 
crept  to  my  nostrils,  too,  and  there  was  a  sub 
dued  stir  about  me,  infinitely  suggestive  —  mys 
terious. 

Now  my  feet  sank  in  a  soft  carpet,  and  a  cur 
tain  brushed  my  shoulder.  A  gong  sounded 
We  stopped. 

The  din  of  distant  drumming  came  to  my  ears 

"Where  in  Heaven's  name  are  we?"  hissed 
Smith  in  my  ear ;  "  that  is  a  tom-tom !  " 

"  S-sh !     S-sh !  " 

The  little  hand  grasping  mine  quivered  nerv- 
ously. We  were  near  a  door  or  a  window,  for 
a  breath  of  perfume  was  wafted  through  the  air; 
and  it  reminded  me  of  my  other  meetings  with 
the  beautiful  woman  who  was  now  leading  us 
from  the  house  of  Fu-Manchu;  who,  with  her 
own  lips,  had  told  me  that  she  wTas  his  slave. 
Through  the  horrible  phantasmagoria  she  flitted 
—  a    seductive    vision,    her    piquant    loveliness 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      179 

standing  out  richly  in  its  black  setting  of  mur- 
der and  devilry.  Not  once,  but  a  thousand 
times,  I  had  tried  to  reason  out  the  nature  of 
the  tie  which  bound  her  to  the  sinister  Doctor. 

Silence  fell. 

"Quick!     This  way!" 

Down  a  thickly  carpeted  stair  we  went.  Our 
guide  opened  a  door,  and  led  us  along  a  passage. 
Another  door  was  opened;  and  we  were  in  the 
open  air.  But  the  girl  never  tarried,  pulling  me 
along  a  graveled  path,  with  a  fresh  breeze  blow- 
ing in  my  face,  and  along  until,  unmistakably, 
I  stood  upon  the  river  bank.  Now,  planking 
creaked  to  our  tread;  and  looking  downward  be- 
neath the  handkerchief,  I  saw  the  gleam  of 
water  beneath  my  feet. 

"  Be  careful ! "  I  was  warned,  and  found  my- 
self stepping  into  a  narrow  boat  —  a  punt. 

Nayland  Smith  followed,  and  the  girl  pushed 
the  punt  off  and  poled  out  into  the  stream. 

"  Don't  speak !  "  she  directed. 

My  brain  was  fevered;  I  scarce  knew  if  I 
dreamed  and  was  waking,  or  if  the  reality  ended 
with  my  imprisonment  in  the  clammy  cellar 
and  this  silent  escape,  blindfolded,  upon  the 
river  with  a  girl  for  our  guide  who  might  have 
stepped  out  of  the  pages  of  "The  Arabian 
Nights  "  were  fantasy  —  the  mockery  of  sleep. 


180      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

Indeed,  I  began  seriously  to  doubt  if  this 
stream  whereon  we  floated,  whose  waters  plashed 
and  tinkled  about  us,  were  the  Thames,  the 
Tigris,  or  the  Styx. 

The  punt  touched  a  bank. 

"  You  will  hear  a  clock  strike  in  a  few  min- 
utes," said  the  girl,  with  her  soft,  charming  ac- 
cent, "  but  I  rely  upon  your  honor  not  to  remove 
the  handkerchiefs  until  then.     You  owe  me  this." 

"  We  do !  "  said  Smith  fervently. 

I  heard  him  scrambling  to  the  bank,  and  a  mo- 
ment later  a  soft  hand  was  placed  in  mine,  and 
I,  too,  was  guided  on  to  terra  firma.  Arrived  on 
the  bank,  I  still  held  the  girPs  hand,  drawing 
her  towards  me. 

"  You  must  not  go  back,"  I  whispered.  "  We 
will  take  care  of  you.  You  must  not  return  to 
that  place." 

"  Let  me  go ! "  she  said.  "  When,  once,  I 
asked  you  to  take  me  from  him,  you  spoke  of 
police  protection;  that  was  your  answer,  police 
protection!  You  would  let  them  lock  me  up  — 
imprison  me  —  and  make  me  betray  him!  For 
what?  For  what?"  She  wrenched  herself 
free.  "  How  little  you  understand  me.  Never 
mind.  Perhaps  one  day  you  will  know!  Until 
the  clock  strikes !  " 

She  was  gone.     I  heard  the  creak  of  the  punt, 

V  7 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      181 

the  drip  of  the  water  from  the  pole.  Fainter  it 
grew,  and  fainter. 

"What  is  her  secret?"  muttered  Smith,  be- 
side me.  "  Why  does  she  cling  to  that 
monster?" 

The  distant  sound  died  away  entirely.  A 
clock  began  to  strike;  it  struck  the  half-hour. 
In  an  instant  my  handkerchief  was  off,  and  so 
Was  Smith's.  We  stood  upon  a  towing-path. 
Away  to  the  left  the  moon  shone  upon  the  towers 
and  battlements  of  an  ancient  fortress. 

It  was  Windsor  Castle. 

"  Half-past  ten,"  cried  Smith.  "  Two  hours 
to  save  Graham  Guthrie !  " 

We  had  exactly  fourteen  minutes  in  which  to 
catch  the  last  train  to  Waterloo ;  and  we  caught 
it.  But  I  sank  into  a  corner  of  the  compart- 
ment in  a  state  bordering  upon  collapse.  Neither 
of  us,  I  think,  could  have  managed  another 
twenty  yards.  With  a  lesser  stake  than  a  hu- 
man life  at  issue,  I  doubt  if  we  should  have  at- 
tempted that  dash  to  Windsor  station. 

"  Due  at  Waterloo  at  eleven-fifty-one,"  panted 
Smith.  "  That  gives  us  thirty-nine  minutes  to 
get  to  the  other  side  of  the  river  and  reach  his 
hotel." 

"  Where  in  Heaven's  name  is  that  house  situ- 
ated?   Did  we  come  up  or  down  stream?  " 


182      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  I  couldn't  determine.  But  at  any  rate,  it 
stands  close  to  the  riverside.  It  should  be 
merely  a  question  of  time  to  identify  it.  I  shall 
set  Scotland  Yard  to  work  immediately;  but  I 
am  hoping  for  nothing.  Our  escape  will  warn 
him." 

I  said  no  more  for  a  time,  sitting  wiping  the 
perspiration  from  my  forehead  and  watching 
my  friend  load  his  cracked  briar  with  the  broad- 
cut  Latakia  mixture. 

"  Smith/'  I  said  at  last,  "  what  was  that  hor- 
rible wailing  we  heard,  and  what  did  Fu-Manchu 
mean  when  he  referred  to  Rangoon?  I  noticed 
how  it  affected  you." 

My  friend  nodded  and  lighted  his  pipe. 

"  There  was  a  ghastly  business  there  in  1908 
or  early  in  1909,"  he  replied :  "  an  utterly  mys- 
terious epidemic.  And  this  beastly  wailing  was 
associated  with  it." 

"In  what  way?  And  what  do  you  mean  by 
an  epidemic?  " 

"  It  began,  I  believe,  at  the  Palace  Mansions 
Hotel,  in  the  cantonments.  A  young  American,  i 
whose  name  I  cannot  recall,  was  staying  there  on 
business  connected  with  some  new  iron  buildings. 
One  night  he  went  to  his  room,  locked  the  door, 
and  jumped  out  of  the  window  into  the  court- 
yard.    Broke  his  neck,  of  course." 


-    THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      183 

"Suicide?" 

"Apparently.  But  there  were  singular  fea- 
tures in  the  case.  For  instance,  his  revolver 
lay  beside  him,  fully  loaded !  " 

"In  the  courtyard?" 

"  In  the  courtyard !  " 

"  Was  it  murder  by  any  chance?  " 

Smith  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  His  door  was  found  locked  from  the  inside ; 
had  to  be  broken  in." 

"But  the  wailing  business?" 

"  That  began  later,  or  was  only  noticed  later. 
A  French  doctor,  named  Lafitte,  died  in  exactly 
the  same  way." 

"  At  the  same  place?  " 

"At  the  same  hotel;  but  he  occupied  a  dif- 
ferent room.  Here  is  the  extraordinary  part 
of  the  affair :  a  friend  shared  the  room  with  him, 
and  actually  saw  him  go !  " 

"Saw  him  leap  from  the  window?" 

"Yes.  The  friend  —  an  Englishman  —  was 
aroused  by  the  uncanny  wailing.  I  was  in 
Bangoon  at  the  time,  so  that  I  know  more  of 
the  case  of  Lafitte  than  of  that  of  the  Ameri- 
can. I  spoke  to  the  man  about  it  personally. 
He  was  an  electrical  engineer,  Edward  Martin, 
and  he  told  me  that  the  cry  seemed  to  come  from 
above  him.i', 


184      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  It  seemed  to  come  from  above  when  we  heard 
it  at  Fu-Manchu's  house." 

"  Martin  sat  up  in  bed,  it  was  a  clear  moon- 
light night  —  the  sort  of  moonlight  you  get  in 
Burma.  Lafitte,  for  some  reason,  had  just  gone 
to  the  window.  His  friend  saw  him  look  out. 
The  next  moment  with  a  dreadful  scream,  he 
threw  himself  forward  —  and  crashed  down  into 
the  courtyard ! " 

"What  then?" 

"  Martin  ran  to  the  window  and  looked  down. 
Lafitte's  scream  had  aroused  the  place,  of  course. 
But  there  was  absolutely  nothing  to  account  for 
the  occurrence.  There  was  no  balcony,  no 
ledge,  by  means  of  which  anyone  could  reach 
the  window.'' 

"  But  how  did  you  come  to  recognize  the  cry?  " 

"  I  stopped  at  the  Palace  Mansions  for  some 
time;  and  one  night  this  uncanny  howling 
aroused  me.  I  heard  it  quite  distinctly,  and  am 
never  likely  to  forget  it.  It  was  followed  by  a 
hoarse  yell.  The  man  in  the  next  room,  an  or- 
chid hunter,  had  gone  the  same  way  as  the 
others ! " 

"  Did  you  change  your  quarters?  " 

"No.  Fortunately  for  the  reputation  of  the 
hotel  —  a      first-class      establishment  —  several 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      185 

similar  cases  occurred  elsewhere,  both  in  Ran- 
goon, in  Prome  and  in  Moulmein.  A  story  got 
about  the  native  quarter,  and  was  fostered  by 
some  mad  fakir,  that  the  god  Siva  was  reborn 
and  that  the  cry  was  his  call  for  victims;  a 
ghastly  story,  which  led  to  an  outbreak  of  da- 
coity  and  gave  the  District  Superintendent  no 
end  of  trouble." 

"  Was  there  anything  unusual  about  the 
bodies?" 

"  They  all  developed  marks  after  death,  as 
though  they  had  been  strangled!  The  marks 
were  said  all  to  possess  a  peculiar  form,  though 
it  was  not  appreciable  to  my  eye ;  and  this,  again, 
was  declared  to  be  the  five  heads  of  Siva." 

"Were  the  deaths  confined  to  Europeans?" 

"  Oh,  no.  Several  Burmans  and  others  died 
in  the  same  way.  At  first  there  was  a  theory 
that  the  victims  had  contracted  leprosy  and  com- 
mitted suicide  as  a  result;  'but  the  medical  evi- 
dence disproved  that.  The  Call  of  Siva  became 
a  perfect  nightmare  throughout  Burma." 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  it  again,  before  this  even- 
ing? " 

"  Yes.  I  heard  it  on  the  Upper  Irrawaddy  one 
clear,  moonlight  night,  and  a  Colassie  —  a  deck- 
hand —  leaped  from  the  top  deck  of  the  steamer 


186      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

aboard  which  I  was  traveling!  My  God!  to 
think  that  the  fiend  Fu-Manchu  has  brought 
that  to  England !  " 

"But  brought  what,  Smith?"  I  cried,  in  per- 
plexity. "What  has  he  brought?  An  evil 
spirit?  A  mental  disease?  What  is  it?  What 
can  it  be?" 

"A  new  agent  of  death,  Petrie!  Something 
born  in  a  plague-spot  of  Burma  —  the  home  of 
much  that  is  unclean  and  much  that  is  inexpli- 
cable. Heaven  grant  that  we  be  in  time,  and  are 
able  to  save  Guthrie." 


Chapter  XT 

THE  train  was  late,  and  as  our  cab  turned 
out  of  Waterloo  Station  and  began  to  as- 
cend to  the  bridge,  from  a  hundred 
steeples  rang  out  the  gongs  of  midnight,  the  bell 
of  St.  Paul's  raised  above  them  all  to  vie  with  the 
deep  voice  of  Big  Ben. 

I  looked  out  from  the  cab  window  across  the 
river  to  where,  towering  above  the  Embankment, 
that  place  of  a  thousand  tragedies,  the  light  of 
some  of  London's  greatest  caravanserais  formed  a 
sort  of  minor  constellation.  From  the  subdued 
blaze  that  showed  the  public  supper-rooms  I 
looked  up  to  the  hundreds  of  starry  points  mark- 
ing the  private  apartments  of  those  giant  inns. 

I  thought  how  each  twinkling  window  denoted 
the  presence  of  some  bird  of  passage,  some  wan- 
derer temporarily  abiding  in  our  midst.  There, 
floor  piled  upon  floor  above  the  chattering 
throngs,  were  these  less  gregarious  units,  each 
something  of  a  mystery  to  his  fellow-guests,  each 
m  his  separate  cell;  and  each  as  remote  from 

187 


188      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

real  human  companionship  as  if  that  cell  were 
fashioned,  not  in  the  bricks  of  London,  but  in 
the  rocks  of  Hindustan ! 

In  one  of  those  rooms  Graham  Guthrie  might 
at  that  moment  be  sleeping,  all  unaware  that  he 
would  awake  to  the  Call  of  Siva,  to  the  summons 
of  death.  As  we  neared  the  Strand,  Smith 
stopped  the  cab,  discharging  the  man  outside 
Sotheby's  auction-rooms. 

"  One  of  the  doctor's  watch-dogs  may  be  in 
the  foyer,"  he  said  thoughtfully,  "  and  it  might 
spoil  everything  if  we  were  seen  to  go  to  Guthrie's 
rooms.  There  must  be  a  back  entrance  to  the 
kitchens,  and  so  on?  " 

"  There  is,"  I  replied  quickly.  "  I  have  seen 
the  vans  delivering  there.     But  have  we  time?" 

"  Yes.     Lead  on." 

We  walked  up  the  Strand  and  hurried  west- 
ward. Into  that  narrow  court,  with  its  iron 
posts  and  descending  steps,  upon  which  opens  a 
well-known  wine-cellar,  we  turned.  Then,  going 
parallel  with  the  Strand,  but  on  the  Embank- 
ment level,  we  ran  round  the  back  of  the  great 
hotel,  and  came  to  double  doors  which  were  open. 
An  arc  lamp  illuminated  the  interior  and  a  num- 
ber of  men  were  at  work  among  the  casks,  crates 
and  packages  stacked  about  the  place.  We 
entered. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU:      189 

"  Hallo ! "  cried  a  man  in  a  white  overall, 
"  where  d'you  think  you're  going?  " 

Smith  grasped  him  by  the  arm. 

"  I  want  to  get  to  the  public  part  of  the  hotel 
without  being  seen  from  the  entrance  hall/'  he 
said.     "Will  you  please  lead  the  way?" 

"  Here  — "  began  the  other,  staring. 

"  Don't  waste  time !  "  snapped  my  friend,  in 
that  tone  of  authority  which  he  knew  so  well 
how  to  assume.  u  It's  a  matter  of  life  and  death. 
Lead  the  way,  I  say !  " 

"Police,  sir?"  asked  the  man  civilly. 

"  Yes,"  said  Smith;  "  hurry !  " 

Off  went  our  guide  without  further  demur. 
Skirting  sculleries,  kitchens,  laundries  and  en- 
gine-rooms, he  led  us  through  those  mysterious 
labyrinths  which  have  no  existence  for  the  guest 
above,  but  which  contain  the  machinery  that 
renders  these  modern  khans  the  Aladdin's  palaces 
they  are.  On  a  second-floor  landing  we  met  a 
man  in  a  tweed  suit,  to  whom  our  cicerone  pre- 
sented us. 

"  Glad  I  met  you,  sir.  Two  gentlemen  from 
the  police." 

The  man  regarded  us  haughtily  with  a  sus- 
picious smile. 

"Who  are  you?"  he  asked.  "You're  not 
from  Scotland  Yard,  at  any  rate ! " 


190      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

Smith  pulled  out  a  card  and  thrust  it  into  the 
speaker's  hand. 

"  If  you  are  the  hotel  detective,"  he  said, 
"take  us  without  delay  to  Mr.  Graham  Guth- 
rie." 

A  marked  change  took  place  in  the  other's  de- 
meanor on  glancing  at  the  card  in  his  hand. 

"  Excuse  me,  sir,"  he  said  deferentially,  "  but, 
of  course,  I  didn't  know  who  I  was  speaking  to. 
We  all  have  instructions  to  give  you  every  as- 
sistance." 

"  Is  Mr.  Guthrie  in  his  room?" 

"He's  been  in  his  room  for  some  time,  sir. 
You  will  want  to  get  there  without  being  seen? 
This  way.  We  can  join  the  lift  on  the  third 
floor." 

Off  we  went  again,  with  our  new  guide.  In 
the  lift: 

"  Have  you  noticed  anything  suspicious  about 
the  place  to-night?"  asked  Smith. 

"  I  have !  "  was  the  startling  reply.  "  That 
accounts  for  your  finding  me  where  you  did. 
My  usual  post  is  in  the  lobby.  But  about  eleven 
o'clock,  when  the  theater  people  began  to  come 
in,  I  had  a  hazy  sort  of  impression  that  some- 
one or  something  slipped  past  in  the  crowd  — 
something  that  had  no  business  in  the  hotel." 

We  got  out  of  the  lift. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      191! 

*'  I  don't  quite  follow  you,"  said  Smith.  "  If 
you  thought  you  saw  something  entering,  you 
must  have  formed  a  more  or  less  definite  impres- 
sion regarding  it." 

.  "That's  the  funny  part  of  the  business," 
answered  the  man  doggedly.  "I  didn't!  But 
as  I  stood  at  the  top  of  the  stairs  I  could  have 
sworn  that  there  was  something  crawling  up  be- 
hind a  party  —  two  ladies  and  two  gentlemen." 

"  A  dog,  for  instance?  " 

"  It  didn't  strike  me  as  being  a  dog,  sir.  Any- 
way, when  the  party  passed  me,  there  was  noth- 
ing there.  Mind  you,  whatever  it  was,  it  hadn't 
come  in  by  the  front.  I  have  made  inquiries 
everywhere,  but  without  result."  He  stopped 
abruptly.  "No.  189  —  Mr.  Guthrie's  door, 
sir." 

Smith  knocked. 

"  Hallo !  "  came  a  muffled  voice ;  "  what  do  you 
want?  " 

"Open  the  door!  Don't  delay;  it  is  impor* 
tank" 

He  turned  to  the  hotel  detective. 

"Stay  right  there  where  you  can  watch  the 
stairs  and  the  lift,"  he  instructed;  "and  note 
everyone  and  everything  that  passes  this  door 
But  whatever  you  see  or  hear,  do  nothing  with- 
out my  orders." 


192      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

The  man  moved  off,  and  the  door  was  opened. 
Smith  whispered  in  my  ear: 

"  Some  creature  of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  is  in  the 
hotel!" 

Mr.  Graham  Guthrie,  British  resident  in 
North  Bhutan,  was  a  big,  thick-set  man  —  gray- 
haired  and  florid,  with  widely  opened  eyes  of  the 
true  fighting  blue,  a  bristling  mustache  and 
prominent  shaggy  brows.  Nayland  Smith  in- 
troduced himself  tersely,  proffering  his  card  and 
an  open  letter. 

"  Those  are  my  credentials,  Mr.  Guthrie,"  he 
said ;  "  so  no  doubt  you  will  realize  that  the  busi- 
ness which  brings  me  and  my  friend,  Dr.  Petrie, 
here  at  such  an  hour  is  of  the  first  importance." 

He  switched  off  the  light. 

"  There  is  no  time  for  ceremony,"  he  explained. 
"  It  is  now  twenty-five  minutes  past  twelve.  At 
half-past  an  attempt  will  be  made  upon  your 
life!" 

"  Mr.  Smith,"  said  the  other,  who,  arrayed  in 
his  pajamas,  was  seated  on  the  edge  of  the  bed, 
"you  alarm  me  very  greatly.  I  may  mention 
that  I  was  advised  of  your  presence  in  England 
this  morning." 

"Do  you  know  anything  respecting  the  per- 
son called  Fu-Manchu  —  Dr.  Fu-Manchu?" 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHO     193' 

"  Only  what  I  was  told  to-day  —  that  he  is 
the  agent  of  an  advanced  political  group." 

"  It  is  opposed  to  his  interests  that  you  should 
return  to  Bhutan.  A  more  gullible  agent  would 
be  preferable.  Therefore,  unless  you  implicitly 
obey  my  instructions,  you  will  never  leave  Eng- 
land!" 

Graham  Guthrie  breathed  quickly.  I  was 
growing  more  used  to  the  gloom,  and  I  could 
dimly  discern  him,  his  face  turned  towards  Nay- 
land  Smith,  whilst  with  his  hand  he  clutched  the 
bed-rail.  Such  a  visit  as  ours,  I  think,  must 
have  shaken  the  nerve  of  any  man. 

"  But,  Mr.  Smith,"  he  said,  "  surely  I  am  safe 
enough  here !  The  place  is  full  of  American  visi- 
tors at  present,  and  I  have  had  to  be  content 
with  a  room  right  at  the  top;  so  that  the  only 
danger  I  apprehend  is  that  of  fire." 

"  There  is  another  danger,"  replied  Smith. 
"  The  fact  that  you  are  at  the  top  of  the  build- 
ing enhances  that  danger.  Do  you  recall  any- 
thing of  the  mysterious  epidemic  which  broke 
out  in  Rangoon  in  1908  —  the  deaths  due  to  the 
Call  of  Siva?" 

"  I  read  of  it  in  the  Indian  papers,"  said 
Guthrie  uneasily.     "Suicides,  were  they  not?" 

"  No !  "  snapped  Smith.     "  Murders !  " 


Mi     THE  INSIDIOUS  DB.  FU-MANCHU 

There  was  a  brief  silence. 

"  From  what  I  recall  of  the  cases,"  said  Guth- 
rie, "that  seems  impossible.  In  several  instan- 
ces the  victims  threw  themselves  from  the 
windows  of  locked  rooms  —  and  the  windows 
were  quite  inaccessible." 

"  Exactly,"  replied  Smith ;  and  in  the  dim 
light  his  revolver  gleamed  dully,  as  he  placed  it 
on  the  small  table  beside  the  bed.  "  Except  that 
your  door  is  unlocked,  the  conditions  to-night 
are  identical.  Silence,  please,  I  hear  a  clock 
striking." 

It  was  Big  Ben.  It  struck  the  half-hour, 
leaving  the  stillness  complete.  In  that  room, 
high  above  the  activity  which  yet  prevailed  be- 
low, high  above  the  supping  crowds  in  the  hotel, 
high  above  the  starving  crowds  on  the  Embank- 
ment, a  curious  chill  of  isolation  swept  about 
me.  Again  I  realized  how,  in  the  very  heart  of 
the  great  metropolis,  a  man  may  be  as  far  from 
aid  as  in  the  heart  of  a  desert.  I  was  glad  that 
I  was  not  alone  in  that  room  —  marked  with  the 
death-mark  of  Fu-Manchu;  and  I  am  certain 
that  Graham  Guthrie  welcomed  his  unexpected 
company. 

I  may  have  mentioned  the  fact  before,  but  on 
this  occasion  it  became  so  peculiarly  evident  to 
me  that  I  am  constrained  to  record  it  here  —  I 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      193 

refer  to  the  sense  of  impending  danger  which 
Invariably  preceded  a  visit  from  Fu-Manchu. 
(Even  had  I  not  known  that  an  attempt  was  to 
V)e  made  that  night,  I  should  have  realized  it,  as, 
strung  to  high  tension,  I  waited  in  the  dark- 
less. Some  invisible  herald  went  ahead  of  the 
dreadful  Chinaman,  proclaiming  his  coming  to 
every  nerve  in  one's  body.  It  was  like  a  breath 
i)f  astral  incense,  announcing  the  presence  of  the 
priests  of  death. 

A  wail,  low  but  singularly  penetrating,  falling 
n  minor  cadences  to  a  new  silence,  came  from 
tomewhere  close  at  hand. 

"  My  God !  "  hissed  Guthrie,  "  what  was  that?  " 

"The  Call  of  Siva,"  whispered  Smith. 
,; Don't  stir,  for  your  life!" 

Guthrie  was  breathing  hard. 

I  knew  that  we  were  three;  that  the  hotel  de- 
fective was  within  hail;  that  there  was  a  tele- 
phone in  the  room;  that  the  traffic  of  the  Em- 
bankment moved  almost  beneath  us ;  but  I  knew, 
and  am  not  ashamed  to  confess,  that  King  Fear 
lad  icy  fingers  about  my  heart.  It  was  awful 
-»-that  tense  waiting  —  for  — what?  / 

Three  taps  sounded  very  distinctly  upon  the 
window. 

Graham  Guthrie  started  so  as  to  shake  the 
bed. 


196      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

"  It's  supernatural !  "  he  muttered  —  all  Jhat 
"was  Celtic  in  his  blood  recoilirg  from  the  omen. 
" Nothing  human  can  reach  that  window !?.?. 

"  S-sh !  "  from  Smith.     "  Don't  stir." 

The  tapping  was  repeated. 

Smith  softly  crossed  the  room.  My  heart  was 
beating  painfully.  He  threw  open  the  window. 
Further  inaction  was  impossible.  I  joined  him ; 
and  we  looked  out  into  the  empty  air. 

"  Don't  come  too  near,  Petrie ! "  he  warned 
over  his  shoulder. 

One  on  either  side  of  the  open  window,  we 
stood  and  looked  down  at  the  moving  Embank- 
ment lights,  at  the  glitter  of  the  Thames,  at  the 
silhouetted  buildings  on  the  farther  bank,  with 
the  Shot  Tower  starting  above  them  all. 

Three  taps  sounded  on  the  panes  above  us. 

In  all  my  dealings  with  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  I  had 
had  to  face  nothing  so  uncanny  as  this.  What 
Burmese  ghoul  had  he  loosed?  Was  it  outside, 
in  the  air?    Was  it  actually  in  the  room? 

"  Don't  let  me  go,  Petrie !  "  whispered  Smith 
suddenly.     " Get  a  tight  hold  on  me!" 

That  was  the  last  straw;  for  I  thought  that 
some  dreadful  fascination  was  impelling  my 
friend  to  hurl  himself  out!  Wildly  I  threw  my 
arms  about  him,  and  Guthrie  leaped  forward  to 
help. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      197 

Smith  leaned  from  the  window  and  looked  up. 

One  choking  cry  he  gave  —  smothered,  inar- 
ticulate —  and  I  found  him  slipping  from  my 
grip  —  being  drawn  out  of  the  window  — 
drawn  to  his  death! 

"  Hold  him,  Guthrie ! "  I  gasped  hoarsely. 
"  My  God,  he's  going !     Hold  him !  " 

My  friend  writhed  in  our  grasp,  and  I  saw 
him  stretch  his  arm  upward.  The  crack  of  his 
revolver  came,  and  he  collapsed  on  to  the  floor, 
carrying  me  with  him. 

But  as  I  fell  I  heard  a  scream  above. 
Smith's  revolver  went  hurtling  through  the  air, 
and,  hard  upon  it,  went  a  black  shape  —  flashing 
past  the  open  window  into  the  gulf  of  the  night. 

"  The  light !     The  light !  "  I  cried. 

Guthrie  ran  and  turned  on  the  light.  Nay- 
land  Smith,  his  eyes  starting  from  his  head,  his 
face  swollen,  lay  plucking  at  a  silken  cord  which 
showed  tight  about  his  throat. 

"  It  was  a  Thug!  "  screamed  Guthrie.  "  Get 
the  rope  off !     He's  choking !  " 

My  hands  a-twitch,  I  seized  the  strangling- 
cord. 

"A  knife!  Quick!"  I  cried.  "I  have  lost 
mine !  " 

Guthrie  ran  to  the  dressing-tabl^  and  passed 
me  an  open  penknife.     I   somehow  forced  thei 


198      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

blade  between  the   rope  and   Smith's   swollen 
neck,  and  severed  the  deadly  silken  thing. 

Smith  made  a  choking  noise,  and  fell  back, 
swooning  in  my  arms. 

•  ••««.. 

When,  later,  we  stood  looking  down  upon  the 
mutilated  thing  which  had  been  brought  in  from 
where  it  fell,  Smith  showed  me  a  mark  on  the 
brow  —  close  beside  the  wound  where  his  bullet 
had  entered. 

"  The  mark  of  Kali,"  he  said.  "  The  man  was 
a  phansigar  —  a  religious  strangler.  Since 
Fu-Manchu  has  dacoits  in  his  service  I  might 
have  expected  that  he  would  have  Thugs.  A 
group  of  these  fiends  would  seem  to  have  fled 
into  Burma;  so  that  the  mysterious  epidemic  in 
Rangoon  was  really  an  outbreak  of  thuggee  — 
on  slightly  improved  lines!  I  had  suspected 
something  of  the  kind  but,  naturally,  I  had  not 
looked  for  Thugs  near  Rangoon.  My  unex- 
pected resistance  led  the  strangler  to  bungle  the 
rope.  You  have  seen  how  it  was  fastened  about 
my  throat?  That  was  unscientific.  The  true 
method,  as  practiced  by  the  group  operating  in 
Burma,  was  to  throw  the  line  about  the  victim's 
neck  and  jerk  him  from  the  window.  A  man 
leaning  from  an  open  window  is  very  nicely 
poised:  it  requires  only  a  slight  jerk  to  pitch 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      199 

him  forward.  No  loop  was  used,  but  a  running 
line,  which,  as  the  victim  fell,  remained  in  the 
hand  of  the  murderer.  No  clew !  Therefore  we 
see  at  once  what  commended  the  system  to  Fu- 
Manchu." 

Graham  Guthrie,  very  pale,  stood  looking  down 
at  the  dead  strangler. 

"  I  owe  you  my  life,  Mr.  Smith,"  he  said.  "  II 
you  had  come  five  minutes  later — " 

He  grasped  Smith's  hand. 

"  You  see,"  Guthrie  continued,  "  no  one 
thought  of  looking  for  a  Thug  in  Burma!  And 
no  one  thought  of  the  roof!  These  fellows  are 
as  active  as  monkeys,  and  where  an  ordinary 
man  would  infallibly  break  his  neck,  they  are 
entirely  at  home.  I  might  have  chosen  my  room 
especially  for  the  business ! " 

"  He  slipped  in  late  this  evening,"  said  Smith. 
"  The  hotel  detective  saw  him,  but  'these  stran- 
gles are  as  elusive  as  shadows,  otherwise,  de- 
spite their  having  changed  the  scene  of  their 
operations,  not  one  could  have  survived." 

"  Didn't  you  mention  a  case  of  this  kind  on 
the  Irrawaddy?"  I  asked. 

"  Yes,"  was  the  reply ;  "  and  I  know  of  what] 
you  are  thinking.  The  steamers  of  the  Irra- 
waddy flotilla  have  a  corrugated-iron  roof  over 
the  top  deck.     The  Thug  must  have  been  lying 


200      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

up  there  as  the  Colassie  passed  on  the  deck  be- 
low.7' 

"  But,  Smith,  what  is  the  motive  of  the  Call?  " 
I  continued. 

"  Partly  religious,"  he  explained,  "  and  partly 
to  wake  the  victims !  You  are  perhaps  going  to 
ask  me  how  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  has  obtained  power 
over  such  people  as  phansigarsf  I  can  only  re* 
ply  that  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  has  secret  knowledge 
of  which,  so  far,  we  know  absolutely  nothing; 
but,  despite  all,  at  last  I  begin  to  score." 

"You  do,"  I  agreed;  "but  your  victory  took 
you  near  to  death." 

"  I  owe  my  life  to  you,  Petrie,"  he  said. 
"  Once  to  your  strength  of  arm,  and  once  to  — " 

"  Don't  speak  of  her,  Smith,"  I  interrupted. 
"Dr.  Fu-Manchu  may  have  discovered  the  part 
she  played!     In  which  event — " 

"Godhelnher!" 


Chapter  XVI 

UPON  the  following  day  we  were  afoot 
again,  and  shortly  at  handgrips  with  the 
enemy.  In  retrospect,  that  restless  time 
offers  a  chaotic  prospect,  with  no  peaceful  spot 
amid  its  turmoils. 

All  that  was  reposeful  in  nature  seemed  to 
have  become  an  irony  and  a  mockery  to  us  — 
wTho  knew  how  an  evil  demigod  had  his  sacri- 
ficial altars  amid  our  sweetest  groves.  This  idea 
ruled  strongly  in  my  mind  upon  that  soft  au- 
tumnal day. 

"  The  net  is  closing  in,"  said  Nayland  Smith. 

"  Let  us  hope  upon  a  big  catch,"  I  replied,  with 
a  laugh. 

Beyond  where  the  Thames  tided  slumberously 
seaward  showed  the  roofs  of  Royal  Windsor,  the 
castle  towers  showing  through  the  autumn  haze. 
The  peace  of  beautiful  Thames-side  was  about 
us. 

This  was  one  of  the  few  tangible  clews  upon 

which  thus  far  wTe  had  chanced;  but  at  last  it 

seemed  indeed  that  we  were  narrowing  the  re- 

201 


202      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

sources  of  that  enemy  of  the  white  race  who  waS 
writing  his  name  over  England  in  characters  of 
blood.  To  capture  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  we  did  not 
hope;  but  at  least  there  was  every  promise  of 
destroying  one  of  the  enemy's  strongholds. 

We  had  circled  upon  the  map  a  tract  of  coun- 
try cut  by  the  Thames,  with  Windsor  for  its 
center.  Within  that  circle  was  the  house  from 
which  miraculously  we  had  escaped  —  a  house 
used  by  the  most  highly  organized  group  in  the 
history  of  criminology.  So  much  we  knew. 
Even  if  we  found  the  house,  and  this  was  likely 
enough,  to  find  it  vacated  by  Fu-Manchu  and  his 
mysterious  servants  we  were  prepared.  But  it 
would  be  a  base  destroyed. 

We  were  working  upon  a  methodical  plan,  and 
although  our  cooperators  were  invisible,  these 
numbered  no  fewer  than  twelve  —  all  of  them 
experienced  men.  Thus  far  we  had  drawn 
blank,  but  the  place  for  which  Smith  and  I  were 
making  now  came  clearly  into  view :  an  old  man- 
sion situated  in  extensive  walled  grounds. 
Leaving  the  river  behind  us,  we  turned  sharply 
to  the  right  along  a  lane  flanked  by  a  high  wall. 
On  an  open  patch  of  ground,  as  we  passed,  I 
noted  a  gypsy  caravan.  An  old  woman  was 
seated  on  the  steps,  her  wrinkled  face  bent,  her 
chin  resting  in  the  palm  of  her  hand. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      203 

I  scarcely  glanced  at  her,  but  pressed  on,  nor 
did  I  notice  that  my  friend  no  longer  was  beside 
me.  I  was  all  anxiety  to  come  to  some  point 
from  whence  I  might  obtain  a  view  of  the  house ; 
all  anxiety  to  know  if  this  was  the  abode  of  our 
mysterious  enemy  —  the  place  where  he  worked 
amid  his  weird  company,  where  he  bred  his 
deadly  scorpions  and  his  bacilli,  reared  his 
poisonous  fungi,  from  whence  he  dispatched 
his  murder  ministers.  Above  all,  perhaps,  I 
wondered  if  this  would  prove  to  be  the  hiding- 
place  of  the  beautiful  slave  girl  who  was  such  a 
potent  factor  in  the  Doctor's  plans,  but  a  two- 
edged  sword  which  yet  we  hoped  to  turn  upon 
Fu-Manchu.  Even  in  the  hands  of  a  master,  a 
woman's  beauty  is  a  dangerous  weapon. 

A  cry  rang  out  behind  me.  I  turned  quickly. 
And  a  singular  sight  met  my  gaze. 

Nayland  Smith  was  engaged  in  a  furious 
struggle  with  the  old  gypsy  woman!  His  long 
arms  clasped  about  her,  he  was  roughly  dragging 
her  out  into  the  roadway,  she  fighting  like  a  wild 
thing  —  silently,  fiercely. 

Smith  often  surprised  me,  but  at  that  sight, 
frankly,  I  thought  that  he  was  become  bereft  of 
reason.  I  ran  back;  and  I  had  almost  reached 
the  scene  of  this  incredible  contest,  and  Smith 
now  was  evidently  hard  put  to  it  to  hold  his  own 


204      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

when  a  man,  swarthy,  with  big  rings  in  his  ears, 
leaped  from  the  caravan. 

One  quick  glance  he  threw  in  our  direction,  and 
made  off  towards  the  river. 

Smith  twisted  round  upon  me,  never  releasing 
his  hold  of  the  woman. 

"  After  him,  Petrie !  "  he  cried.  "  After  him. 
Don't  let  him  escape.     It's  a  dacoit ! " 

My  brain  in  a  confused  whirl;  my  mind  yet 
disposed  to  a  belief  that  my  friend  had  lost  his 
senses,  the  word  "  dacoit "  was  sufficient. 

I  started  down  the  road  after  the  fleetly  run- 
ning man.  Never  once  did  he  glance  behind 
him,  so  that  he  evidently  had  occasion  to  fear 
pursuit.  The  dusty  road  rang  beneath  my  fly- 
ing footsteps.  That  sense  of  fantasy,  which 
claimed  me  often  enough  in  those  days  of  our 
struggle  with  the  titantic  genius  whose  victory 
meant  the  victory  of  the  yellow  races  over  the 
white,  now  had  me  fast  in  its  grip  again.  I  was 
an  actor  in  one  of  those  dream-scenes  of  the 
grim  Fu-Manchu  drama. 

Out  over  the  grass  and  down  to  the  river's 
brink  ran  the  gypsy  who  was  no  gypsy,  but  one 
of  that  far  more  sinister  brotherhood,  the  da- 
coits.  I  was  close  upon  his  heels.  But  I  was 
not  prepared  for  him  to  leap  in  among  the 
rushes  at  the  margin  of  the  stream;  and  seeing 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      205 

him  do  this  I  pulled  up  quickly.  Straight  into 
the  water  he  plunged;  and  I  saw  that  he  held 
some  object  in  his  hand.  He  waded  out;  he 
dived;  and  as  I  gained  the  bank  and  looked  to 
right  and  left  he  had  vanished  completely.  Only 
ever-widening  rings  showed  where  he  had  been. 

I  had  him. 

For  directly  he  rose  to  the  surface  he  would  be 
visible  from  either  bank,  and  with  the  police 
whistle  which  I  carried  I  could,  if  necessary, 
summon  one  of  the  men  in  hiding  across  the 
stream.  I  waited.  A  wild-fowl  floated  serenely 
past,  untroubled  by  this  strange  invasion  of  his 
precincts.  A  full  minute  I  waited.  From  the 
lane  behind  me  came  Smith's  voice : 

"  Don't  let  him  escape,  Petrie !  " 

Never  lifting  my  eyes  from  the  water,  I  waved 
my  hand  reassuringly.  But  still  the  dacoit  did 
not  rise.  I  searched  the  surface  in  all  direc- 
tions as  far  as  my  eyes  could  reach ;  but  no  swim- 
mer showed  above  it.  Then  it  was  that  I  con- 
cluded he  had  dived  too  deeply,  become  entan- 
gled in  the  weeds  and  was  drowned.  With  a 
final  glance  to  right  and  left  and  some  feeling 
of  awe  at  this  sudden  tragedy  —  this  grim 
going  out  of  a  life  at  glorious  noonday  —  I 
turned  away.  Smith  had  the  woman  securely; 
but  I  had  not  taken  five  steps  towards  him  when 


206      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

a  faint  splash  behind  warned  me.  Instinctively 
I  ducked.  From  whence  that  saving  instinct 
arose  I  cannot  surmise,  but  to  it  I  owed  my  life. 
For  as  I  rapidly  lowered  my  head,  something 
hummed  past  me,  something  that  flew  out  over 
the  grass  bank,  and  fell  with  a  jangle  upon  the 
dusty  roadside.     A  knife ! 

I  turned  and  bounded  back  to  the  river's 
brink.  I  heard  a  faint  cry  behind  me,  which 
could  only  have  come  from  the  gypsy  woman. 
Nothing  disturbed  the  calm  surface  of  the  water. 
The  reach  was  lonely  of  rowers.  Out  by  the 
farther  bank  a  girl  was  poling  a  punt  along,  and 
her  white-clad  figure  was  the  only  living  thing 
that  moved  upon  the  river  within  the  range  of 
the  most  expert  knife-thrower. 

To  say  that  I  was  nonplused  is  to  say  less 
than  the  truth;  I  was  amazed.  That  it  was  the 
dacoit  who  had  shown  me  this  murderous  at- 
tention I  could  not  doubt.  But  where  in 
Heaven's  name  was  he?  He  could  not  humanly 
have  remained  below  water  for  so  long;  yet  he 
certainly  was  not  above,  was  not  upon  the  sur- 
face, concealed  amongst  the  reeds,  nor  hidden 
upon  the  bank. 

There,  in  the  bright  sunshine,  a  consciousness 
of  the  eerie  possessed  me.  It  was  with  an  un- 
comfortable feeling  that  my  phantom  foe  might 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      207 

be  aiming  a  second  knife  at  my  back  that  I 
turned  away  and  hastened  towards  Smith.  My 
fearful  expectations  were  not  realized,  and  I 
picked  up  the  little  weapon  which  had  so  nar- 
rowly missed  me,  and  with  it  in  my  hand  rejoined 
my  friend. 

He  was  standing  with  one  arm  closely  clasped 
about  the  apparently  exhausted  woman,  and  her 
dark  eyes  were  fixed  upon  him  with  an  ex- 
traordinary expression. 

"  What  does  it  mean,  Smith?  "  I  began. 

But  he  interrupted  me. 

"  Where  is  the  dacoit?  "  he  demanded  rapidly. 

"  Since  he  seemingly  possesses  the  attributes 
of  a  fish,"  I  replied,  "  I  cannot  pretend  to  say." 

The  gypsy  woman  lifted  her  eyes  to  mine  and 
laughed.  Her  laughter  was  musical,  not  that  of 
such  an  old  hag  as  Smith  held  captive;  it  was 
familiar,  too. 

I  started  and  looked  closely  into  the  wizened 
face. 

"  He's  tricked  you,"  said  Smith,  an  angry  note 
in  his  voice.     "What  is  that  you  have  in  your 
lhand?" 

I  showed  him  the  knife,  and  told  him  how  it 
had  come  into  my  possession. 

"  I  know,"  he  rapped.  "  I  saw  it.  He  was  in 
the  water  not  three  yards  from  where  you  stood. 


208      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

You  must  have  seen  him.  Was  there  nothing 
visible?" 

"  Nothing." 

The  woman  laughed  again,  and  again  I  won- 
dered. 

"A  wild-fowl,"  I  added;  "nothing  else." 

"  A  wild-fowl,"  snapped  Smith.  "  If  you  will 
consult  your  recollections  of  the  habits  of  wild- 
fowl you  will  see  that  this  particular  specimen 
was  a  vara  avis.  It's  an  old  trick,  Petrie,  but 
a  good  one,  for  it  is  used  in  decoying.  A  dacoit's 
head  was  concealed  in  that  wild-fowl !  It's  use- 
less. He  has  certainly  made  good  his  escape  by 
now." 

"  Smith,"  I  said,  somewhat  crestfallen,  "  why 
are  you  detaining  this  gyspy  woman?  " 

"  Gypsy  woman ! "  he  laughed,  hugging  her 
tightly  as  she  made  an  impatient  movement. 
"  Use  your  eyes,  old  man." 

He  jerked  the  frowsy  wig  from  her  head,  and 
beneath  was  a  cloud  of  disordered  hair  that  shim- 
mered in  the  sunlight. 

"  A  wet  sponge  will  do  the  rest,"  he  said. 

Into  my  eyes,  widely  opened  in  wonder,  looked 
the  dark  eyes  of  the  captive;  and  beneath  the 
disguise  I  picked  out  the  charming  features  of 
the  slave  girl.  There  were  tears  on  the  whitened 
lashes,  and  she  was  submissive  now. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      209 

"  This  time,"  said  my  friend  hardly,  "  we  have 
fairly  captured  her  —  and  we  will  hold  her." 

From  somewhere  up-stream  came  a  faint  call. 

"The  dacoit!" 

Nayland  Smith's  lean  body  straightened;  he 
stood  alert,  strung  up. 

Another  call  answered,  and  a  third  responded. 
Then  followed  the  flatly  shrill  note  of  a  police 
whistle,  and  I  noted  a  column  of  black  vapor 
rising  beyond  the  wall,  mounting  straight  to 
heaven  as  the  smoke  of  a  welcome  offering. 

The  surrounded  mansion  was  in  flames ! 

"  Curse  it !  "  rapped  Smith.  "  So  this  time  we 
were  right.  But,  of  course,  he  has  had  ample 
opportunity  to  remove  his  effects.  I  knew  that. 
The  man's  daring  is  incredible.  He  has  given 
himself  till  the  very  last  moment  —  and  we 
blundered  upon  two  of  the  outposts." 

"  I  lost  one." 

"  No  matter.  We  have  the  other.  I  expect  no 
further  arrests,  and  the  house  will  have  been  so 
well  fired  by  the  Doctor's  servants  that  nothing 
can  save  it.  I  fear  its  ashes  will  afford  us  no 
clew,  Petrie;  but  we  have  secured  a  lever  which 
should  serve  to  disturb  Fu-Manchu's  world." 

He  glanced  at  the  queer  figure  which  hung 
submissively  in  his  arms.  She  looked  up 
proudly. 


210      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

"  You  need  not  hold  me  so  tight,"  she  said,  in 
her  soft  voice.     "  I  will  come  with  you." 

That  I  moved  amid  singular  happenings,  you, 
who  have  borne  with  me  thus  far,  have  learned, 
and  that  I  witnessed  many  curious  scenes ;  but  of 
the  many  such  scenes  in  that  race-drama  wherein 
Nayland  Smith  and  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  played  the 
leading  parts,  I  remember  none  more  bizarre  than 
the  one  at  my  rooms  that  afternoon. 

Without  delay,  and  without  taking  the  Scot- 
land Yard  men  into  our  confidence,  we  had  hur- 
ried our  prisoner  back  to  London,  for  my  friend's 
authority  was  supreme.  A  strange  trio  we  were, 
and  one  which  excited  no  little  comment ;  but  the 
journey  came  to  an  end  at  last.  Now  we  were 
in  my  unpretentious  sitting-room  —  the  room 
wherein  Smith  first  had  unfolded  to  me  the  story 
of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  and  of  the  great  secret  society 
which  sought  to  upset  the  balance  of  the  world 
—  to  place  Europe  and  America  beneath  the 
scepter  of  Cathay. 

I  sat  with  my  elbows  upon  the  writing-table, 
my  chin  in  my  hands;  Smith  restlessly  paced  the 
floor,  relighting  his  blackened  briar  a  dozen  times 
in  as  many  minutes.  In  the  big  arm-chair  the 
pseudogypsy  was  curled  up.  A  brief  toilet  had 
converted  the  wizened  old  woman's  face  into  that 
of  a  fascinatingly  pretty  girl.    Wildly  pictur- 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      211 

esque  she  looked  in  her  ragged  Romany  garb. 
She  held  a  cigarette  in  her  fingers  and  watched 
us  through  lowered  lashes. 

Seemingly,  with  true  Oriental  fatalism,  she 
was  quite  reconciled  to  her  fate,  and  ever  and 
anon  she  would  bestow  upon  me  a  glance  from 
her  beautiful  eyes  which  few  men,  I  say  with 
confidence,  could  have  sustained  unmoved. 
Though  I  could  not  be  blind  to  the  emotions  of 
that  passionate  Eastern  soul,  yet  I  strove  not  to 
think  of  them.  Accomplice  of  an  arch-murderer 
she  might  be;  but  she  was  dangerously  lovely. 

"  That  man  who  was  with  you,"  said  Smith, 
suddenly  turning  upon  her,  "  was  in  Burma  up 
till  quite  recently.  He  murdered  a  fisherman 
thirty  miles  above  Prome  only  a  month  before  I 
left.  The  D.S.P.  had  placed  a  thousand  rupees 
on  his  head.     Am  I  right?  " 

The  girl  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"  Suppose —    What  then?  "  she  asked. 

"  Suppose  I  handed  you  over  to  the  police?  " 
suggested  Smith.  But  he  spoke  without  convic- 
tion, for  in  the  recent  past  we  both  had  owed  our 
lives  to  this  girl. 

"  As  you  please,"  she  replied.  "  The  police 
Would  learn  nothing." 

"You  do  not  belong  to  the  Far  East,"  my 
friend  said  abruptly.     "  You  may  have  Eastern 


212      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

blood  in  your  veins,  but  you  are  no  kin  of  Fu- 
Manchu." 

"  That  is  true,"  she  admitted,  and  knocked 
the  ash  from  her  cigarette. 

"  Will  you  tell  me  where  to  find  Fu-Manchu?  " 

She  shrugged  her  shoulders  again,  glancing 
eloquently  in  my  direction. 

Smith  walked  to  the  door. 

"  I  must  make  out  my  report,  Petrie,"  he  said. 
"  Look  after  the  prisoner." 

And  as  the  door  closed  softly  behind  him  I 
knew  what  was  expected  of  me;  but,  honestly, 
I  shirked  my  responsibility.  What  attitude 
should  I  adopt?  How  should  I  go  about  my  deli- 
cate task  ?  In  a  quandary,  I  stood  watching  the 
girl  whom  singular  circumstances  saw  captive 
in  my  rooms. 

"  You  do  not  think  we  would  harm  you?  "  I 
began  awkwardly.  "  No  harm  shall  come  to  you. 
Why  will  you  not  trust  us  ?  " 

She  raised  her  brilliant  eyes. 

"  Of  what  avail  has  your  protection  been  to 
some  of  those  others/'  she  said;  "those  others 
whom  he  has  sought  for?  " 

Alas !  it  had  been  of  none,  and  I  knew  it  well. 
I  thought  I  grasped  the  drift  of  her  words. 

"  You  mean  that  if  you  speak,  Fu-Manchu  will 
find  a  way  of  killing  you?" 


TkE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      213 

"  Of  killing  me!  "  she  flashed  scornfully.  "  Do 
I  seem  one  to  fear  for  myself?  " 

"Then  what  do  you  fear?  "  I  asked,  in  sur- 
prise. 

She  looked  at  me  oddly. 

"  When  I  was  seized  and  sold  for  a  slave/'  she 
answered  slowly,  "  my  sister  was  taken,  too,  and 
my  brother  —  a  child."  She  spoke  the  word 
with  a  tender  intonation,  and  her  slight  accent 
rendered  it  the  more  soft.  "  My  sister  died  in 
the  desert.  My  brother  lived.  Better,  far  bet- 
ter, that  he  had  died,  too." 

Her  words  impressed  me  intensely. 

"Of  what  are  you  speaking?"  I  questioned. 
"  You  speak  of  slave-raids,  of  the  desert.  Where 
did  these  things  take  place?  Of  what  country 
are  you?  " 

"Does  it  matter?"  she  questioned  in  turn. 
"  Of  what  country  am  I?  A  slave  has  no  coun- 
try, no  name." 

"  No  name !  "  I  cried. 

"You  may  call  me  Karamaneh,"  she  said. 
"  As  Karamaneh  I  was  sold  to  Dr.  Fu-Manchu, 
and  my  brother  also  he  purchased.  We  were 
cheap  at  the  price  he  paid."  She  laughed 
shortly,  wildly. 

"  But  he  has  spent  a  lot  of  money  to  educate 
me-    My  brother  is  all  that  is  left  to  me  in  the 


214      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

world,  to  love,  and  he  is  in  the  power  of  Dr.  Fu- 
Manchu.  You  understand?  It  is  upon  him  the 
blow  will  fall.  You  ask  me  to  fight  against  Fu- 
Manchu.  You  talk  of  protection.  Did  your  pro- 
tection save  Sir  Crichton  Davey?" 

I  shook  my  head  sadly. 

"You  understand  now  why  I  cannot  disobey 
my  master's  orders  —  why,  if  I  would,  I  dare  not 
betray  him." 

I  walked  to  the  window  and  looked  out.  How 
could  I  answer  her  arguments?  What  could  1 
say?  I  heard  the  rustle  of  her  ragged  skirts, 
and  she  who  called  herself  Karamaneh  stood  be- 
side  me.     She  laid  her  hand  upon  my  arm. 

"  Let  me  go,"  she  pleaded.  "  He  will  kill  him  I 
He  will  kill  him !  " 

Her  voice  shook  with  emotion. 

"  He  cannot  revenge  himself  upon  your 
brother  when  you  are  in  no  way  to  blame,"  I  said 
angrily.  "  We  arrested  you ;  you  are  not  here 
of  your  own  free  will." 

She  drew  her  breath  sharply,  clutching  at  my 
arm,  and  in  her  eyes  I  could  read  that  she  was 
forcing  her  mind  to  some  arduous  decision. 

"  Listen."  She  was  speaking  rapidly,  nerv- 
ously. "If  I  help  you  to  take  Dr.  Fu-Manchu 
—  tell  you  where  he  is  to  be  found  alone  —  will 
you  promise  me,  solemnly  promise  me,  that  you 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      215 

will  immediately  go  to  the  place  where  I  shall 
guide  you  and  release  my  brother ;  that  you  will 
let  us  both  go  free?  " 

"I  will/'  I  said,  without  hesitation.  "You 
may  rest  assured  of  it." 

"  But  there  is  a  condition,"  she  added. 

"What  is  it?" 

"  When  I  have  told  you  where  to  capture  him 
you  must  release  me." 

I  hesitated.  Smith  often  had  accused  me  of 
Weakness  where  this  girl  was  concerned.  What 
now  was  my  plain  duty?  That  she  would  utterly 
decline  to  speak  under  any  circumstances  unless 
it  suited  her  to  do  so  I  felt  assured.  If  she 
spoke  the  truth,  in  her  proposed  bargain  there 
was  no  personal  element;  her  conduct  I  now 
viewed  in  a  new  light.  Humanity,  I  thought, 
dictated  that  I  accept  her  proposal ;  policy  also. 

"  I  agree,"  I  said,  and  looked  into  her  eyes, 
which  were  aflame  now  with  emotion,  an  excite- 
ment perhaps  of  anticipation,  perhaps  of  fear. 

She  laid  her  hands  upon  my  shoulders. 

"  You  will  be  careful?  "  she  said  pleadingly. 

"  For  your  sake,"  I  replied,  "  I  shall." 

"Not  for  my  sake." 

"Then  for  your  brother's." 

"  No."  Her  voice  had  sunk  to  a  whisper. 
tt  For  your  own." 


Chapter  XVII 

A  COOL  breeze  met  us,  blowing  from  the 
lower  reaches  of  the  Thames.  Far  behind 
us  twinkled  the  dim  lights  of  Low's  Cot- 
tages, the  last  regular  habitations  abutting  upon 
the  marshes.  Between  us  and  the  cottages 
stretched  half-a-mile  of  lush  land  through  which 
at  this  season  there  were,  however,  numerous 
dry  paths.  Before  us  the  flats  again,  a  dull, 
monotonous  expanse  beneath  the  moon,  with  the 
promise  of  the  cool  breeze  that  the  river  flowed 
round  the  bend  ahead.  It  was  very  quiet.  Only 
the  sound  of  our  footsteps,  as  Nayland  Smith 
and  I  tramped  steadily  towards  our  goal,  broke 
the  stillness  of  that  lonely  place. 

Not  once  but  many  times,  within  the  last 
twenty  minutes,  I  had  thought  that  we  were  ill- 
advised  to  adventure  alone  upon  the  capture  of 
the  formidable  Chinese  doctor;  but  we  were  fol- 
lowing out  our  compact  with  Karamaneh;  and 
one  of  her  stipulations  had  been  that  the  police 
must  not  be  acquainted  with  her  share  in  the 
matter. 

A  light  came  into  view  far  ahead  of  us. 

"  That's  the  light,  Petrie,"  said  Smith.    "  If 

216 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      217 

we  keep  that  straight  before  us,  according  to  our 
information  we  shall  strike  the  hulk." 

I  grasped  the  revolver  in  my  pocket,  and  the 
presence  of  the  little  weapon  was  curiously  re- 
assuring. I  have  endeavored,  perhaps  in  ex- 
tenuation of  my  own  fears,  to  explain  how  about 
Dr.  Fu-Manchu  there  rested  an  atmosphere  of 
horror,  peculiar,  unique.  He  was  not  as  other 
men.  The  dread  that  he  inspired  in  all  with 
whom  he  came  in  contact,  the  terrors  which  he 
controlled  and  hurled  at  whomsoever  cumbered 
his  path,  rendered  him  an  object  supremely 
sinister.  I  despair  of  conveying  to  those  who 
may  read  this  account  any  but  the  coldest  con- 
ception of  the  man's  evil  power. 

Smith  stopped  suddenly  and  grasped  my  arm. 
We  stood  listening. 

"What?"  I  asked. 

"  You  heard  nothing?  " 

I  shook  my  head. 

Smith  was  peering  back  over  the  marshes  in 
his  oddly  alert  way.  He  turned  to  me,  and  his 
tanned  face  wore  a  peculiar  expression. 

"You  don't  think  it's  a  trap?"  he  jerked. 
"  We  are  trusting  her  blindly." 

Strange  it  may  seem,  but  something  within 
me  rose  in  arms  against  the  innuendo. 

"  I  don't,"  I  said  shortly. 


218      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

He  nodded.    We  pressed  on. 

Ten  minutes'  steady  tramping  brought  us 
within  sight  of  the  Thames.  Smith  and  I  both 
had  noticed  how  Fu-Manchu's  activities  centered 
always  about  the  London  river.  Undoubtedly  it 
was  his  highway,  his  line  of  communication, 
along  which  he  moved  his  mysterious  forces. 
The  opium  den  off  Shadwell  Highway,  the  man- 
sion upstream,  at  that  hour  a  smoldering  shell; 
now  the  hulk  lying  off  the  marshes.  Always  he 
made  his  headquarters  upon  the  river.  It  was 
significant;  and  even  if  to-night's  expedition 
should  fail,  this  was  a  clew  for  our  future 
guidance. 

"Bear  to  the  right,"  directed  Smith.  "We 
must  reconnoiter  before  making  our  attack." 

We  took  a  path  that  led  directly  to  the  river 
bank.  Before  us  lay  the  gray  expanse  of  water, 
and  out  upon  it  moved  the  busy  shipping  of  the 
great  mercantile  city.  But  this  life  of  the  river 
seemed  widely  removed  from  us.  The  lonely 
spot  where  we  stood  had  no  kinship  with  human 
activity.  Its  dreariness  illuminated  by  the  bril- 
I  liant  moon,  it  looked  indeed  a  fit  setting  for  an 
act  in  such  a  drama  as  that  wherein  we  played 
our  parts.  When  I  had  lain  in  the  East  End 
opium  den,  when  upon  such  another  night  as 
this  I  had  looked  out  upon  a  peaceful  Norfolk 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      219 

countryside,  the  same  knowledge  of  aloofness,  of 
utter  detachment  from  the  world  of  living  men, 
had  come  to  me. 

Silently  Smith  stared  out  at  the  distant  mov- 
ing lights. 

"  Karamaneh  merely  means  a  slave,"  he  said 
irrelevantly. 

I  made  no  comment. 

"  There's  the  hulk,"  he  added. 

The  bank  upon  which  we  stood  dipped  in  mud 
slopes  to  the  level  of  the  running  tide.  Seaward 
it  rose  higher,  and  by  a  narrow  inlet  —  for  we 
perceived  that  we  were  upon  a  kind  of  promon- 
tory—  a  rough  pier  showed.  Beneath  it  was  a 
shadowy  shape  in  the  patch  of  gloom  which  the 
moon  threw  far  out  upon  the  softly  eddying 
water.  Only  one  dim  light  was  visible  amid 
this  darkness. 

"  That  will  be  the  cabin,"  said  Smith. 

Acting  upon  our  prearranged  plan,  we  turned 
and  walked  up  on  to  the  staging  above  the  hulk. 
A  wooden  ladder  led  out  and  down  to  the  deck 
below,  and  was  loosely  lashed  to  a  ring  on  the 
pier.  With  every  motion  of  the  tidal  waters  the 
ladder  rose  and  fell,  its  rings  creaking  harshly; 
against  the  crazy  railing. 

"  How  are  we  going  to  get  down  without  being 
detected?"  whispered  Smith. 


220      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

"  We've  got  to  risk  it,"  I  said  grimly.    , 

Without  further  words  my  friend  climbed 
around  on  to  the  ladder  and  commenced  to  de- 
scend. I  waited  until  his  head  disappeared  be- 
low the  level,  and,  clumsily  enough,  prepared 
to  follow  him. 

The  hulk  at  that  moment  giving  an  unusually 
heavy  heave,  I  stumbled,  and  for  one  breathless 
moment  looked  down  upon  the  glittering  surface 
streaking  the  darkness  beneath  me.  My  foot  had 
slipped,  and  but  that  I  had  a  firm  grip  upon 
the  top  rung,  that  instant,  most  probably,  had 
marked  the  end  of  my  share  in  the  fight  with 
Fu-Manchu.  As  it  was  I  had  a  narrow  escape. 
I  felt  something  slip  from  my  hip  pocket,  but  the 
weird  creaking  of  the  ladder,  the  groans  of  the 
laboring  hulk,  and  the  lapping  of  the  waves 
about  the  staging  drowned  the  sound  of  the 
splash  as  my  revolver  dropped  into  the  river. 

Rather,  white-faced,  I  think,  I  joined  Smith  on 
the  deck.     He  had  witnessed  my  accident,  but  — 

"  We  must  risk  it,"  he  whispered  in  my  ear. 
"  We  dare  not  turn  back  now." 

He  plunged  into  the  semi-darkness,  making 
for  the  cabin,  I  perforce  following. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  ladder  we  came  fully 
into  the  light  streaming  out  from  the  singular 
apartments  at  the  entrance  to  which  we  found 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      221 

ourselves.  It  was  fitted  up  as  a  laboratory.  A 
glimpse  I  had  of  shelves  loaded  with  jars  aud 
bottles,  of  a  table  strewn  with  scientific  para- 
phernalia, with  retorts,  with  tubes  of  extraor- 
dinary shapes,  holding  living  organisms,  and 
with  instruments  —  some  of  them  of  a  form  un- 
known to  my  experience.  I  saw  too  that  books, 
papers  and  rolls  of  parchment  littered  the  bare 
wooden  floor.  Then  Smith's  voice  rose  above  the 
confused  sounds  about  me,  incisive,  command- 
ing: 

"  I  have  you  covered,  Dr.  Fu-Manchu ! " 

For  Fu-Manchu  sat  at  the  table. 

The  picture  that  he  presented  at  that  moment 
is  one  which  persistently  clings  in  my  memory. 
In  his  long,  yellow  robe,  his  masklike,  intellec- 
tual face  bent  forward  amongst  the  riot  of  singu- 
lar objects  upon  the  table,  his  great,  high  brow 
gleaming  in  the  light  of  the  shaded  lamp  above 
him,  and  with  the  abnormal  eyes,  filmed  and 
green,  raised  to  us,  he  seemed  a  figure  from  the 
realms  of  delirium. 

But,  most  amazing  circumstance  of  all,  he  and 
his  surroundings  tallied,  almost  identically,  with 
the  dream-picture  which  had  come  to  me  as  I 
lay  chained  in  the  cell! 

Some  of  the  large  jars  about  the  place  held 
anatomy   specimens.     A   faint   smell    of   opium 


222      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

hung  in  the  air,  and  playing  with  the  tassel  of 
one  of  the  cushions  upon  which,  as  upon  a  divan, 
Fu-Manchu  was  seated,  leaped  and  chattered  a 
little  marmoset. 

That  was  an  electric  moment.  I  was  pre 
pared  for  anything  —  for  anything  except  fo?~ 
what  really  happened. 

The  doctor's  wonderful,  evil  face  betrayed  no 
hint  of  emotion.  The  lids  flickered  over  the 
filmed  eyes,  and  their  greenness  grew  momen- 
tarily brighter,  and  filmed  over  again. 

"  Put  up  your  hands ! "  rapped  Smith,  "  and 
attempt  no  tricks."  His  voice  quivered  with  ex- 
citement. "  The  game's  up,  Fu-Manchu.  Find 
something  to  tie  him  up  with,  Petrie." 

I  moved  forward  to  Smith's  side,  and  was 
about  to  pass  him  in  the  narrow  doorway.  The 
hulk  moved  beneath  our  feet  like  a  living  thing 
—  groaning,  creaking  —  and  the  water  lapped 
about  the  rotten  woodwork  with  a  sound  in- 
finitely dreary. 

"  Put  up  your  hands ! ??  ordered  Smith  impera- 
tively. 

Fu-Manchu  slowly  raised  his  hands,  and  a 
smile  dawned  upon  the  impassive  features  —  a 
smile  that  had  no  mirth  in  it,  only  menace,  re- 
vealing as  it  did  his  even,  discolored  teeth,  but 
leaving  the  filmed  eyes  inanimate,  dull,  inhuman. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      223 

He  spoke  softly,  sibilantly. 

"  I  would  advise  Dr.  Petrie  to  glance  behind 
him  before  he  moves." 

Smith's  keen  gray  eyes  never  for  a  moment 
quitted  the  speaker.  The  gleaming  barrel  moved 
not  a  hair's-breadth.  But  I  glanced  quickly  over 
my  shoulder  —  and  stifled  a  cry  of  pure  horror. 

A  wicked,  pock-marked  face,  with  wolfish 
fangs  bared,  and  jaundiced  eyes  squinting 
obliquely  into  mine,  was  within  two  inches  of 
me.  A  lean,  brown  hand  and  arm,  the  great 
thews  standing  up  like  cords,  held  a  crescent- 
shaped  knife  a  fraction  of  an  inch  above  my 
jugular  vein.  A  slight  movement  must  have 
dispatched  me;  a  sweep  of  the  fearful  weapon, 
I  doubt  not,  would  have  severed  my  head  from 
my  body. 

"  Smith !  "  I  whispered  hoarsely,  "  don't  look 
around.  For  God's  sake  keep  him  covered.  But 
a  dacoit  has  his  knife  at  my  throat ! " 

Then,  for  the  first  time,  Smith's  hand  trembled. 
But  his  glance  never  wavered  from  the  malignant, 
emotionless  countenance  of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu.  He 
clenched  his  teeth  hard,  so  that  the  muscles  stood 
out  prominently  upon  his  jaw. 

I  suppose  that  silence  which  followed  my  aw- 
ful discovery  prevailed  but  a  few  seconds.  To 
me  those  seconds  were  each  a  lingering  death. 


224:     ,THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

There,  below,  in  that  groaning  hulk,  I  knew  more 
of  icy  terror  than  any  of  our  meetings  with  the 
murder-group  had  brought  to  me  before;  and 
through  my  brain  throbbed  a  thought:  the  girl 
had  betrayed  us! 

"  You  supposed  that  I  was  alone?  "  suggested 
Fu-Manchu.     "  So  I  was." 

Yet  no  trace  of  fear  had  broken  through  the 
impassive  yellow  mask  when   we  had   entered. 

"  But  my  faithful  servant  followed  you,"  he 
added.  "  I  thank  him.  The  honors,  Mr.  Smith, 
are  mine,  I  think?  " 

Smith  made  no  reply.  I  divined  that  he  was 
thinking  furiously.  Fu-Manchu  moved  his 
hand  to  caress  the  marmoset,  which  had  leaped 
playfully  upon  his  shoulder,  and  crouched  there 
gibing  at  us  in  a  whistling  voice. 

"  Don't  stir !  "  said  Smith  savagely.  "  I  warn 
you ! " 

Fu-Manchu  kept  his  hand  raised. 

"  May  I  ask  you  how  you  discovered  my  re- 
treat? "  he  asked. 

"  This  hulk  has  been  watched  since  dawn," 
lied  Smith  brazenly. 

"  So?  "  The  Doctor's  filmed  eyes  cleared  for 
a  moment.  "  And  to-day  you  compelled  me  to 
burn  a  house,  and  you  have  captured  one  of  my 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      225 

people,  too.  I  congratulate  you.  She  would  noli 
betray  me  though  lashed  with  scorpions." 

The  great  gleaming  knife  was  so  near  to  my 
neck  that  a  sheet  of  notepaper  could  scarcely 
have  been  slipped  between  blade  and  vein,  I 
think;  but  my  heart  throbbed  even  more  wildly 
when  I  heard  those  words. 

"  An  impasse/'  said  Fu-Manchu.  "  I  have  a 
proposal  to  make.  I  assume  that  you  would  not 
accept  my  word  for  anything?  " 

"  I  would  not,"  replied  Smith  promptly. 

a  Therefore,"  pursued  the  Chinaman,  and  the 
occasional  guttural  alone  marred  his  perfect 
English,  "  I  must  accept  yours.  Of  your  re- 
sources outside  this  cabin  I  know  nothing.  You, 
I  take  it,  know  as  little  of  mine.  My  Burmese 
friend  and  Doctor  Petrie  will  lead  the  way,  then ; 
you  and  I  will  follow.  We  will  strike  out  across 
the  marsh  for,  say,  three  hundred  yards.  You 
will  then  place  your  pistol  on  the  ground, 
pledging  me  your  word  to  leave  it  there.  I  shall 
further  require  your  assurance  that  you  will 
make  no  attempt  upon  me  until  I  have  retraced 
my  steps.  I  and  my  good  servant  will  with- 
draw, leaving  you,  at  the  expiration  of  the 
specified  period,  to  act  as  you  see  fit.  Is  it 
agreed?" 


226     THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

Smith  hesitated.     Then : 

"  The  dacoit  must  leave  his  knife  also,"  he 
stipulated. 

Fu-Manchu  smiled  his  evil  smile  again. 

"Agreed.     Shall  I  lead  the  way?" 

"  No !  "  rapped  Smith.  "  Petrie  and  the  da- 
coit first;  then  you;  I  last." 

A  guttural  word  of  command  from  Fu-Man- 
chu, and  we  left  the  cabin,  with  its  evil  odors, 
its  mortuary  specimens,  and  its  strange  instru- 
ments, and  in  the  order  arranged  mounted  to 
the  deck. 

"  It  will  be  awkward  on  the  ladder,"  said  Fu- 
Manchu.  "  Dr.  Petrie,  I  will  accept  your  word 
to  adhere  to  the  terms." 

"  I  promise,"  I  said,  the  words  almost  choking 
me. 

We  mounted  the  rising  and  dipping  ladder, 
all  reached  the  pier,  and  strode  out  across  the 
flats,  the  Chinaman  always  under  close  cover  of 
Smith's  revolver.  Round  about  our  feet,  now 
leaping  ahead,  now  gamboling  back,  came  and 
went  the  marmoset.  The  dacoit,  dressed  solely 
in  a  dark  loin-cloth,  walked  beside  me,  carrying 
his  huge  knife,  and  sometimes  glancing  at  me 
with  his  blood-lustful  eyes.  Never  before,  I 
venture  to  say,  had  an  autumn  moon  lighted  such 
a  scene  in  that  place. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      227 

"  Here  we  part,"  said  Fu-Manchu,  and  spoke 
another  word  to  his  follower. 

The  man  threw  his  knife  upon  the  ground. 

"  Search  him,  Petrie,"  directed  Smith.  "  He 
may  have  a  second  concealed." 

The  Doctor  consented ;  and  I  passed  my  hands 
over  the  man's  scanty  garments. 

"  Now  search  Fu-Manchu." 

This  also  I  did.  And  never  have  I  experienced 
a  similar  sense  of  revulsion  from  any  human 
being.  I  shuddered,  as  though  I  had  touched  a 
venomous  reptile. 

Smith  drew  down  his  revolver. 

"  I  curse  myself  for  an  honorable  fool,"  he 
said.  "  No  one  could  dispute  my  right  to  shoot 
you  dead  where  you  stand." 

Knowing  him  as  I  did,  I  could  tell  from  the 
suppressed  passion  in  Smith's  voice  that  only 
by  his  unhesitating  acceptance  of  my  friend's 
word,  and  implicit  faith  in  his  keeping  it,  had 
Dr.  Fu-Manchu  escaped  just  retribution  at  that 
moment.  Fiend  though  he  was,  I  admired  his 
courage ;  for  all  this  he,  too,  must  have  known. 

The  Doctor  turned,  and  with  the  dacoit  walked 
back.  Nayland  Smith's  next  move  filled  me  with 
surprise.  For  just  as,  silently,  I  was  thanking 
God  for  my  escape,  my  friend  began  shedding 
his  coat,  collar  and  waistcoat. 


228      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  Pocket  your  valuables,  and  do  the  same/'  he 
muttered  hoarsely.  "  We  have  a  poor  chance, 
but  we  are  both  fairly  fit.  To-night,  Petrie,  we 
literally  have  to  run  for  our  lives." 

We  live  in  a  peaceful  age,  wherein  it  falls  to 
the  lot  of  few  men  to  owe  their  survival  to  their 
fleetness  of  foot.  At  Smith's  words  I  realized 
in  a  flash  that  such  was  to  be  our  fate  to-night. 

I  have  said  that  the  hulk  lay  off  a  sort  of  prom- 
ontory. East  and  west,  then,  we  had  nothing 
to  hope  for.  To  the  south  was  Fu-Manchu ;  and 
even  as,  stripped  of  our  heavier  garments,  we 
started  to  run  northward,  the  weird  signal  of  a 
dacoit  rose  on  the  night  and  was  answered  — 
was  answered  again. 

"  Three,  at  least,"  hissed  Smith ;  "  three  armed 
dacoits.     Hopeless." 

"  Take  the  revolver,"  I  cried.     "  Smith,  it's  — " 

"  No,"  he  rapped,  through  clenched  teeth.  "  A 
servant  of  the  Crown  in  the  East  makes  his 
motto :  i  Keep  your  word,  though  it  break  your 
neck ! '  I  don't  think  we  need  fear  it  being  used 
against  us.     Fu-Manchu  avoids  noisy  methods/' 

So  back  we  ran,  over  the  course  by  which, 
earlier,  we  had  come.  It  was,  roughly,  a  mile  to 
the  first  building  —  a  deserted  cottage  —  and  an- 
other quarter  of  a  mile  to  any  that  was  occupied. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      222 

Our  chance  of  meeting  a  living  soul,  other  than 
Fu-Manchu's  dacoits,  was  practically  nil. 

At  first  we  ran  easily,  for  it  was  the  second 
half-mile  that  would  decide  our  fate.  The  pro- 
fessional murderers  who  pursued  us  ran  like 
panthers,  I  knew ;  and  I  dare  not  allow  my  mind 
to  dwell  upon  those  yellow  figures  with  the 
curved,  gleaming  knives.  For  a  long  time 
neither  of  us  looked  back. 

On  we  ran,  and  on  —  silently,  doggedly. 

Then  a  hissing  breath  from  Smith  warned  me 
what  to  expect. 

Should  I,  too,  look  back?  Yes.  It  was  im- 
possible to  resist  the  horrid  fascination. 

I  threw  a  quick  glance  over  my  shoulder. 

And  never  while  I  live  shall  I  forget  what  I 
saw.  Two  of  the  pursuing  dacoits  had  outdis- 
tanced their  fellow  (or  fellows),  and  were  actu- 
ally within  three  hundred  yards  of  us. 

More  like  dreadful  animals  they  looked  than 
human  beings,  running  bent  forward,  with  their 
faces  curiously  uptilted.  The  brilliant  moon- 
light gleamed  upon  bared  teeth,  as  I  could  see, 
even  at  that  distance,  even  in  that  quick,  agonized 
glance,  and  it  gleamed  upon  the  crescent-shaped 
knives. 

"  As  hard  as  you  can  go  now,"  panted  Smith. 


'230     THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"We  must  make  an  attempt  to  break  into  the 
empty  cottage.     Only  chance." 

I  had  never  in  my  younger  days  been  a  notable 
runner;  for  Smith  I  cannot  speak.  But  I  am 
confident  that  the  next  half-mile  was  done  in 
time  that  would  not  have  disgraced  a  crack  man. 
Not  once  again  did  either  of  us  look  back.  Yard 
upon  yard  we  raced  forward  together.  My  heart 
seemed  to  be  bursting.  My  leg  muscles  throbbed 
with  pain.  At  last,  with  the  empty  cottage  in 
sight,  it  came  to  that  pass  with  me  when  another 
three  yards  looks  as  unattainable  as  three  miles. 
Once  I  stumbled. 

"  My  God !  "  came  from  Smith  weakly. 

But  I  recovered  myself.  Bare  feet  pattered 
close  upon  our  heels,  and  panting  breaths  told 
how  even  Fu-Manchu's  bloodhounds  were  hard 
put  to  it  by  the  killing  pace  we  had  made. 

"  Smith,"  I  whispered,  "  look  in  front.  Some- 
one ! " 

As  through  a  red  mist  I  had  seen  a  dark  shape 
detach  itself  from  the  shadows  of  the  cottage, 
and  merge  into  them  again.  It  could  only  be 
another  dacoit;  but  Smith,  not  heeding,  or  not 
hearing,  my  faintly  whispered  words,  crashed 
open  the  gate  and  hurled  himself  blindly  at  the 
door. 

It  burst  open  before  him  with  a  resounding 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      231 

boom,  and  lie  pitched  forward  into  the  interior 
darkness.  Flat  upon  the  floor  he  lay,  for  as, 
with  a  last  effort,  I  gained  the  threshold  and 
dragged  myself  within,  I  almost  fell  over  his 
recumbent  body. 

Madly  I  snatched  at  the  door.  His  foot  held 
it  open.  I  kicked  the  foot  away,  and  banged 
the  door  to.  As  I  turned,  the  leading  dacoit,  his 
eyes  starting  from  their  sockets,  his  face  the 
face  of  a  demon,  leaped  wildly  through  the  gate- 
way. 

That  Smith  had  burst  the  latch  I  felt  assured, 
but  by  some  divine  accident  my  weak  hands 
found  the  bolt.  With  the  last  ounce  of  strength 
spared  to  me  I  thrust  it  home  in  the  rusty 
socket  —  as  a  full  six  inches  of  shining  steel 
split  the  middle  panel  and  protruded  above  my 
head. 

I  dropped,  sprawling,  beside  my  friend. 

A  terrific  blow  shattered  every  pane  of  glass 
in  the  solitary  window,  and  one  of  the  grinning 
animal  faces  looked  in. 

"  Sorry,  old  man,"  whispered  Smith,  and  his 
I  voice  was  barely  audible.  Weakly  he  grasped 
my  hand.  "  My  fault.  I  shouldn't  have  let  you 
come."  ' 

From  the  corner  of  the  room  where  the  black 
shadows   lay   flicked   a   long   tongue   of  flamev 


232      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

Muffled,  staccato,  came  the  report.  And  the  yel- 
low face  at  the  window  was  blotted  out. 

One  wild  cry,  ending  in  a  rattling  gasp,  told 
of  a  dacoit  gone  to  his  account. 

A  gray  figure  glided  past  me  and  was  sil- 
houetted against  the  broken  window. 

Again  the  pistol  sent  its  message  into  the  night, 
and  again  came  the  reply  to  tell  how  well  and 
truly  that  message  had  been  delivered. 

In  the  stillness,  intense  by  sharp  contrast,  the 
sound  of  bare  soles  pattering  upon  the  path 
outside  stole  to  me.  Two  runners,  I  thought 
there  were,  so  that  four  dacoits  must  have  been 
upon  our  trail.  The  room  was  full  of  pungent 
smoke.  I  staggered  to  my  feet  as  the  gray  figure 
with  the  revolver  turned  towards  me.  Some- 
thing familiar  there  was  in  that  long,  gray 
garment,  and  now  I  perceived  why  I  had  thought 
so. 

It  was  my  gray  rain-coat. 

"  Karamaneh,"  I  whispered. 

And  Smith,  with  difficulty,  supporting  himself 
upright,  and  holding  fast  to  the  ledge  beside  the 
door,  muttered  something  hoarsely,  which 
sounded  like  "  God  bless  her !  " 

The  girl,  trembling  now,  placed  her  hands  upon 
my  shoulders  with  that  quaint,  pathetic  gesture 
peculiarly  her  own. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      233 

"  I  followed  you,"  she  said.  "  Did  you  not 
know  I  should  follow  you?  But  I  had  to  hide 
because  of  another  who  was  following  also.  I 
had  but  just  reached  this  place  when  I  saw  you 
running  towards  me." 

She  broke  off  and  turned  to  Smith. 

"This  is  your  pistol/'  she  said  naively.  "I 
found  it  in  your  bag.  Will  you  please  take 
it!" 

He  took  it  without  a  word.  Perhaps  he  could 
not  trust  himself  to  speak. 

"  Now  go.  Hurry !  "  she  said.  "  You  are  not 
safe  yet." 

"But  you?"  I  asked. 

"  You  have  failed,"  she  replied.  "  I  must  go 
back  to  him.     There  is  no  other  way." 

Strangely  sick  at  heart  for  a  man  who  has  just 
had  a  miraculous  escape  from  death,  I  opened 
the  door.  Coatless,  disheveled  figures,  my  friend 
and  I  stepped  out  into  the  moonlight. 

Hideous  under  the  pale  rays  lay  the  two  dead 
men,  their  glazed  eyes  upcast  to  the  peace  of  the 
blue  heavens.  Karamaneh  had  shot  to  kill,  for 
both  had  bullets  in  their  brains.  If  God  ever 
planned  a  more  complex  nature  than  hers  —  a 
nature  more  tumultuous  with  conflicting  pas- 
sions, I  cannot  conceive  of  it.  Yet  her  beauty 
was  of  the  sweetest;  and  in  some  respects  she  had 


234      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

the  heart  of  a  child  —  this  girl  who  could  shoot 
so  straight. 

"We  must  send  the  police  to-night,"  said 
Smith.     "  Or  the  papers  — " 

"  Hurry/'  came  the  girl's  voice  commandingly 
from  the  darkness  of  the  cottage. 

It  was  a  singular  situation.  My  very  soul  re- 
belled against  it.     But  what  could  we  do? 

"  Tell  us  where  we  can  communicate,"  began 
Smith. 

"  Hurry.  I  shall  be  suspected.  Do  you  want 
him  to  kill  me !  " 

We  moved  away.  All  was  very  still  now,  and 
the  lights  glimmered  faintly  ahead.  Not  a  wisp 
of  cloud  brushed  the  moon's  disk. 

"  Good-night,  Karamaneh,"  I  whispered  softly. 


Chapter  XVIII 

TO  pursue  further  the  adventure  on  the 
marshes  would  be  a  task  at  once  useless 
and  thankless.  In  its  actual  and  in  its 
dramatic  significance  it  concluded  with  our 
parting  from  Karamaneh.  And  in  that  parting 
I  learned  what  Shakespeare  meant  by  "  Sweet 
Sorrow." 

There  was  a  world,  I  learned,  upon  the  confines 
of  which  I  stood,  a  world  whose  very  existence 
hitherto  had  been  unsuspected.  Not  the  least  of 
the  mysteries  which  peeped  from  the  darkness 
was  the  mystery  of  the  heart  of  Karamaneh.  I 
sought  to  forget  her.  I  sought  to  remember  her. 
Indeed,  in  the  latter  task  I  found  one  more  con- 
genial, yet,  in  the  direction  and  extent  of  the 
ideas  which  it  engendered,  one  that  led  me  to 
a  precipice. 

East  and  West  may  not  intermingle.  As  a 
student  of  world-policies,  as  a  physician,  I  ad- 
mitted, could  not  deny,  that  truth.  Again,  if 
Karamaneh  were  to  be  credited,  she  had  come  to 
Fu-Manchu  a  slave;  had  fallen  into  the  hands 

235 


236      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

of  the  raiders;  had  crossed  the  desert  with  the 
slave-drivers;  had  known  the  house  of  the  slave- 
dealer.  Could  it  be?  With  the  fading  of  the 
crescent  of  Islam  I  had  thought  such  things  to 
have  passed. 

But  if  it  were  so? 

At  the  mere  thought  of  a  girl  so  deliciously 
beautiful  in  the  brutal  power  of  slavers,  I  found 
myself  grinding  my  teeth  —  closing  my  eyes  in 
a  futile  attempt  to  blot  out  the  pictures  called 
up. 

Then,  at  such  times,  I  would  find  myself  dis- 
crediting her  story.  Again,  I  would  find  myself 
wondering,  vaguely,  why  such  problems  persist- 
ently haunted  my  mind.  But,  always,  my  heart 
had  an  answer.  And  I  was  a  medical  man,  who 
sought  to  build  up  a  family  practice !  —  who,  in 
short,  a  very  little  time  ago,  had  thought  him- 
self past  the  hot  follies  of  youth  and  entered 
upon  that  staid  phase  of  life  wherein  the  daily 
problems  of  the  medical  profession  hold  absolute 
sway  and  such  seductive  follies  as  dark  eyes  and 
red  lips  find  no  place  —  are  excluded ! 

But  it  is  foreign  from  the  purpose  of  this  plain 
record  to  enlist  sympathy  for  the  recorder.  The 
topic  upon  which,  here,  I  have  ventured  to  touch 
was  one  fascinating  enough  to  me ;  I  cannot  hope 
that  it  holds  equal  charm  for  any  other.     Let 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      237 

us  return  to  that  which  it  is  my  duty  to  narrate 
and  let  us  forget  my  brief  digression. 

It  is  a  fact,  singular,  but  true,  that  few 
Londoners  know  London.  Under  the  guidance 
of  my  friend,  Nayland  Smith,  I  had  learned,  since 
his  return  from  Burma,  how  there  are  haunts 
in  the  very  heart  of  the  metropolis  whose  ex- 
istence is  unsuspected  by  all  but  the  few ;  places 
unknown  even  to  the  ubiquitous  copy-hunting 
pressman. 

Into  a  quiet  thoroughfare  not  two  minutes' 
walk  from  the  pulsing  life  of  Leicester  Square, 
Smith  led  the  way.  Before  a  door  sandwiched  in 
between  two  dingy  shop-fronts  he  paused  and 
turned  to  me. 

"  Whatever  you  see  or  hear,"  he  cautioned, 
"  express  no  surprise." 

A  cab  had  dropped  us  at  the  corner.  We  both 
wore  dark  suits  and  fez  caps  with  black  silk 
tassels.  My  complexion  had  been  artificially  re- 
duced to  a  shade  resembling  the  deep  tan  of  my 
friend's.     He  rang  the  bell  beside  the  door. 

Almost  immediately  it  was  opened  by  a  negro 
woman  —  gross,  hideously  ugly. 

Smith  uttered  something  in  voluble  Arabic. 
As  a  linguist  his  attainments  were  a  constant 
source  of  surprise.  The  jargons  of  the  East,  Far 
and  Near,  he  spoke  as  his  mother  tongue.     The 


238      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

woman  immediately  displayed  the  utmost  ser- 
vility, ushering  us  into  an  ill-lighted  passage, 
with  every  evidence  of  profound  respect.  Fol- 
lowing this  passage,  and  passing  an  inner  door, 
from  beyond  whence  proceeded  bursts  of  discor- 
dant music,  we  entered  a  little  room  bare  of  furni- 
ture, with  coarse  matting  for  mural  decorations, 
and  a  patternless  red  carpet  on  the  floor.  In  a 
niche  burned  a  common  metal  lamp. 

The  negress  left  us,  and  close  upon  her  depar- 
ture entered  a  very  aged  man  with  a  long 
patriarchal  beard,  who  greeted  my  friend  with 
dignified  courtesy.  Following  a  brief  conversa- 
tion, the  aged  Arab  —  for  such  he  appeared  to 
be  —  drew  aside  a  strip  of  matting,  revealing  a 
dark  recess.  Placing  his  finger  upon  his  lips, 
he  silently  invited  us  to  enter. 

We  did  so,  and  the  mat  was  dropped  behind  us. 
The  sounds  of  crude  music  were  now  much 
plainer,  and  as  Smith  slipped  a  little  shutter 
aside  I  gave  a  start  of  surprise. 

Beyond  lay  a  fairly  large  apartment,  having 
divans  or  low  seats  around  three  of  its  walls. 
These  divans  were  occupied  by  a  motley  company 
of  Turks,  Egyptians,  Greeks,  and  others;  and  I 
noted  two  Chinese.  Most  of  them  smoked 
cigarettes,  and  some  were  drinking.  A  girl  was 
performing  a  sinuous  dance  upon  the  square. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      239 

carpet  occupying  the  center  of  the  floor,  accom- 
panied by  a  young  negro  woman  upon  a  guitar 
and  by  several  members  of  the  assembly  who 
clapped  their  hands  to  the  music  or  hummed  a 
low,  monotonous  melody. 

Shortly  after  our  entrance  into  the  passage 
the  dance  terminated,  and  the  dancer  fled  through 
a  curtained  door  at  the  farther  end  of  the  room. 
A  buzz  of  conversation  arose. 

"  It  is  a  sort  of  combined  Welcaleh  and  place 
of  entertainment  for  a  certain  class  of  Oriental 
residents  in,  or  visiting,  London,"  Smith  whis- 
pered. "  The  old  gentleman  who  has  just  left 
us  is  the  proprietor  or  host.  I  have  been  here 
before  on  several  occasions,  but  have  always 
drawn  blank." 

He  was  peering  out  eagerly  into  the  strange 
clubroom. 

"  Whom  do  you  expect  to  find  here?  "  I  asked. 

"  It  is  a  recognized  meeting-place,"  said  Smith 
in  my  ear.  "  It  is  almost  a  certainty  that  some 
of  the  Fu-Manchu  group  use  it  at  times." 

Curiously  I  surveyed  all  these  faces  which 
were  visible  from  the  spy-hole.  My  eyes  rested 
particularly  upon  the  two  Chinamen. 

"  Do  you  recognize  anyone?  "  I  whispered. 

"  S-sh !  " 

Smith  was  craning  his  neck  so  as  to  command 


240      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

a  sight  of  the  doorway.  He  obstructed  my  view? 
and  only  by  his  tense  attitude  and  some  subtle 
wave  of  excitement  which  he  communicated  to 
me  did  I  know  that  a  new  arrival  was  entering. 

The  hum  of  conversation  died  away,  and  in 
the  ensuing  silence  I  heard  the  rustle  of  draper- 
ies. The  newcomer  was  a  woman,  then.  Fear- 
ful of  making  any  noise  I  yet  managed  to  get  my 
eyes  to  the  level  of  the  shutter. 

A  TVJman  in  an  elegant,  flame-colored  opera 
cloak  was  crossing  the  floor  and  coming  in  the 
direction  of  the  spot  where  we  were  concealed. 
She  wore  a  soft  silk  scarf  about  her  head,  a  fold 
partly  draped  across  her  face.  A  momentary 
view  I  had  of  her  —  and  wildly  incongruous  she 
looked  in  that  place  —  and  she  had  disappeared 
from  sight,  having  approached  someone  invisible 
who  sat  upon  the  divan  immediately  beneath  our 
point  of  vantage. 

From  the  way  in  which  the  company  gazed 
towards  her,  I  divined  that  she  was  no  habitue 
of  the  place,  but  that  her  presence  there  was  as 
greatly  surprising  to  those  in  the  room  as  it  was 
to  me. 

Whom  could  she  be,  this  elegant  lady  who 
visited  such  a  haunt  —  who,  it  would  seem,  was 
so  anxious  to  disguise  her  identity,  but  who  was 
dressed  for  a  society  function  rather  than  for  a 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      241 

midnight  expedition  of  so  unusual  a  character? 

I  began  a  whispered  question,  but  Smith 
tugged  at  my  arm  to  silence  me.  His  excite- 
ment was  intense.  Had  his  keener  powers  en- 
abled him  to  recognize  the  unknown? 

A  faint  but  most  peculiar  perfume  stole  to  my 
nostrils,  a  perfume  which  seemed  to  contain  the 
very  soul  of  Eastern  mystery.  Only  one  woman 
known  to  me  used  that  perfume  —  Karamaneh. 

Then  it  was  she! 

At  last  my  friend's  vigilance  had  been  re- 
warded. Eagerly  I  bent  forward.  Smith  liter- 
ally quivered  in  anticipation  of  a  discovery. 

Again  the  strange  perfume  was  wafted  to  our 
hiding-place;  and,  glancing  neither  to  right  nor 
left,  I  saw  Karamaneh  —  for  that  it  was  she  I  no 
longer  doubted  —  recross  the  room  and  disap- 
pear. 

"  The  man  she  spoke  to,"  hissed  Smith.  "  We 
must  see  him !     We  must  have  him !  " 

He  pulled  the  mat  aside  and  stepped  out  into 
the  anteroom.  It  was  empty.  Down  the  pas- 
sage he  led,  and  we  were  almost  come  to  the 
door  of  the  big  room  when  it  was  thrown  open 
and  a  man  came  rapidly  out,  opened  the  street 
door  before  Smith  could  reach  him,  and  was 
gone,  slamming  it  fast. 

I  can  swear  that  we  were  not  four  seconds  be- 


242      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

hind  Mm,  but  when  we  gained  the  street  it  was 
empty.  Our  quarry  had  disappeared  as  if  by 
magic.  A  big  car  was  just  turning  the  corner 
towards  Leicester  Square. 

"  That  is  the  girl,"  rapped  Smith ;  "  but  where 
in  Heaven's  name  is  the  man  to  whom  she 
brought  the  message?  I  would  give  a  hundred 
pounds  to  know  what  business  is  afoot.  To 
think  that  we  have  had  such  an  opportunity  and 
have  thrown  it  away !  " 

Angry  and  nonplused  he  stood  at  the  corner, 
looking  in  the  direction  of  the  crowded  thor- 
oughfare into  which  the  car  had  been  driven,  tug- 
ging at  the  lobe  of  his  ear,  as  was  his  habit  in 
such  moments  of  perplexity,  and  sharply  click- 
ing his  teeth  together.  I,  too,  was  very  thought- 
ful. Clews  were  few  enough  in  those  days  of  our 
war  with  that  giant  antagonist.  The  mere 
thought  that  our  trifling  error  of  judgment  to- 
night in  tarrying  a  moment  too  long  might  mean 
the  victory  of  Fu-Manchu,  might  mean  the  turn- 
ing of  the  balance  which  a  wise  providence  had 
adjusted  between  the  white  and  yellow  races, 
was  appalling. 

To  Smith  and  me,  who  knew  something  of  the 
secret  influences  at  work  to  overthrow  the  Indian 
Empire,  to  place,  it  might  be,  the  whole  of 
Europe  and  America  beneath  an  Eastern  rule, 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      243 

it  seemed  that  a  great  yellow  hand  was  stretched 
out  over  London.  Doctor  Fu-Manchu  was  a 
menace  to  the  civilized  world.  Yet  his  very  ex- 
istence remained  unsuspected  by  the  millions 
whose  fate  he  sought  to  command. 

"  Into  what  dark  scheme  have  we  had  a 
glimpse?"  said  Smith.  "What  State  secret  is 
to  be  filched?  What  faithful  servant  of  the 
British  Raj  to  be  spirited  away?  Upon  whom 
now  has  Fu-Manchu  set  his  death  seal?" 

"  Karamaneh  on  this  occasion  may  not  have 
been  acting  as  an  emissary  of  the  Doctor's." 

"  I  feel  assured  that  she  was,  Petrie.  Of  the 
many  whom  this  yellow  cloud  may  at  any  mo- 
ment envelop,  to  which  one  did  her  message  re- 
fer? The  man's  instructions  were  urgent. 
Witness  his  hasty  departure.  Curse  it ! "  He 
dashed  his  right  clenched  fist  into  the  palm  of  his 
left  hand.  "  I  never  had  a  glimpse  of  his  face, 
first  to  last.  To  think  of  the  hours  I  have  spent 
in  that  place,  in  anticipation  of  just  such  a 
meeting  —  only  to  bungle  the  opportunity  when 
it  arose !  " 

Scarce  heeding  what  course  we  followed,  we 
had  come  now  to  Piccadilly  Circus,  and  had 
walked  out  into  the  heart  of  the  night's  traffic.  I 
just  dragged  Smith  aside  in  time  to  save  him 
from  the  off-front  wheel  of  a  big  Mercedes.     Then 


2M      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

the  traffic  was  blocked,  and  we  found  ourselves 
dangerously  penned  in  amidst  the  press  of 
vehicles. 

Somehow  we  extricated  ourselves,  jeered  at  by 
taxi-drivers,  who  naturally  took  us  for  two 
simple  Oriental  visitors,  and  just  before  that  im- 
passable barrier  the  arm  of  a  London  policeman 
was  lowered  and  the  stream  moved  on,  a 
faint  breath  of  perfume  became  perceptible  to 
me. 

The  cabs  and  cars  about  us  were  actually  be- 
ginning to  move  again,  and  there  was  nothing  for 
it  but  a  hasty  retreat  to  the  curb.  I  could  not 
pause  to  glance  behind,  but  instinctively  I  knew 
that  someone  —  someone  who  used  that  rare, 
fragrant  essence  —  was  leaning  from  the  win- 
dow of  the  car. 

a  Andaman  —  second!  "  floated  a  soft  whisper. 

We  gained  the  pavement  as  the  pent-up  traffic 
roared  upon  its  way. 

Smith  had  not  noticed  the  perfume  worn  by 
the  unseen  occupant  of  the  car,  had  not  detected 
the  whispered  words.  But  I  had  no  reason  to 
doubt  my  senses,  and  I  knew  beyond  question 
that  Fu-Manchu's  lovely  slave,  Karamaneh,  had 
been  within  a  yard  of  us,  had  recognized  us, 
and  had  uttered  those  words  for  our  guidance. 

On  regaining  my  rooms,  we  devoted  a  whole 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      245 


w 


hour  to  considering  what  "  Andaman  —  second 
could  possibly  mean. 

"  Hang  it  all !  "  cried  Smith,  "  it  might  mean 
anything  —  the  result  of  a  race,  for  instance." 

He  burst  into  one  of  his  rare  laughs,  and  be- 
gan to  stuff  broadcut  mixture  into  his  briar.  I 
could  see  that  he  had  no  intention  of  turning  in. 

"  I  can  think  of  no  one  —  no  one  of  note  — 
in  London  at  present  upon  whom  it  is  likely  that 
Fu-Manchu  would  make  an  attempt,"  he  said, 
"  except  ourselves." 

We  began  methodically  to  go  through  the  long 
list  of  names  which  we  had  compiled  and  to  re- 
view our  elaborate  notes.  When,  at  last,  I 
turned  in,  the  night  had  given  place  to  a  new 
day.  But  sleep  evaded  me,  and  "Andaman  — 
second  "  danced  like  a  mocking  phantom  through 
my  brain. 

Then  I  heard  the  telephone  bell.  I  heard 
Smith  speaking. 

A  minute  afterwards  he  was  in  my  room,  his 
face  very  grim. 

"  I  knew  as  well  as  if  I'd  seen  it  with  my  own 
eyes  that  some  black  business  was  afoot  last 
night,"  he  said.  "  And  it  was.  Within  pistol- 
shot  of  us!  Someone  has  got  at  Frank  Norris 
West.  Inspector  Weymouth  has  just  been  on 
the  'phone." 


246     THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  Norris  West !  "  I  cried,  "  the  American  avia- 
tor—  and  inventor — " 

"  Of  the  West  aero-torpedo  —  yes.  He's  been 
offering  it  to  the  English  War  Office,  and  they 
have  delayed  too  long." 

I  got  out  of  bed. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  I  mean  that  the  potentialities  have  attracted 
the  attention  of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu !  " 

Those  words  operated  electrically.  I  do  not 
know  how  long  I  was  in  dressing,  how  long  a 
time  elapsed  ere  the  cab  for  which  Smith  had 
'phoned  arrived,  how  many  precious  minutes 
were  lost  upon  the  journey;  but,  in  a  nervous 
whirl,  these  things  slipped  into  the  past,  like  the 
telegraph  poles  seen  from  the  window  of  an  ex- 
press, and,  still  in  that  tense  state,  we  came 
upon  the  scene  of  this  newest  outrage. 

Mr.  Norris  West,  whose  lean,  stoic  face  had  lat- 
terly figured  so  often  in  the  daily  press,  lay  upon 
the  floor  in  the  little  entrance  hall  of  his  cham- 
bers, flat  upon  his  back,  with  the  telephone  re- 
ceiver in  his  hand. 

The  outer  door  had  been  forced  by  the  police. 
They  had  had  to  remove  a  piece  of  the  paneling 
to  get  at  the  bolt.  A  medical  man  was  leaning 
over  the  recumbent  figure  in  the  striped  pajama 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      247 

suit,  and  Detective-Inspector  Weymouth'  stood 
watching  him  as  Smith  and  I  entered. 

"  He  has  been  heavily  drugged/'  said  the  Doc- 
tor, sniffing  at  West's  lips,  "but  I  cannot  say 
what  drug  has  been  used.  It  isn't  chloroform  or 
anything  of  that  nature.  He  can  safely  be  left 
to  sleep  it  off,  I  think." 

I  agreed,  after  a  brief  examination. 
,  "It's  most  extraordinary,"  said  Weymouth. 
"  He  rang  up  the  Yard  about  an  hour  ago  and 
said  his  chambers  had  been  invaded  by  China- 
men. Then  the  man  at  the  'phone  plainly  heard 
him  fall.  When  we  got  here  his  front  door  was 
bolted,  as  you've  seen,  and  the  windows  are  three 
floors  up.     Nothing  is  disturbed." 

"  The  plans  of  the  aero-torpedo? "  rapped 
Smith. 

"  I  take  it  they  are  in  the  safe  in  his  bedroom," 
replied  the  detective,  "and  that  is  locked  all 
right.  I  think  he  must  have  taken  an  overdose 
of  something  and  had  illusions.  But  in  case 
there  was  anything  in  what  he  mumbled  (you 
could  hardly  understand  him)  I  thought  it  as 
well  to  send  for  you." 

"  Quite  right,"  said  Smith  rapidly.  His  eyes 
shone  like  steel.  "Lay  him  on  the  bed,  In- 
spector." 


248      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

It  was  done,  and  my  friend  walked  into  the 
bedroom. 

Save  that  the  bed  was  disordered,  showing 
that  West  had  been  sleeping  in  it,  there  were  no 
evidences  of  the  extraordinary  invasion  mem 
tioned  by  the  drugged  man.  It  was  a  small 
room  —  the  chambers  were  of  that  kind  which 
are  let  furnished  —  and  very  neat.  A  safe  with 
a  combination  lock  stood  in  a  corner.  The  win- 
dow was  open  about  a  foot  at  the  top. 

Smith  tried  the  safe  and  found  it  fast.  He 
stood  for  a  moment  clicking  his  teeth  together, 
by  which  I  knew  him  to  be  perplexed.  He 
walked  over  to  the  window  and  threw  it  up.  We 
both  looked  out. 

"  You  see,"  came  Weymouth's  voice,  "  it  is 
altogether  too  far  from  the  court  below  for  our 
cunning  Chinese  friends  to  have  fixed  a  ladder 
with  one  of  their  bamboo  rod  arrangements. 
And,  even  if  they  could  get  up  there,  it's  too  far 
down  from  the  roof  —  two  more  stories  —  for 
them  to  have  fixed  it  from  there." 

Smith  nodded  thoughtfully,  at  the  same  time 
trying  the  strength  of  an  iron  bar  which  ran 
from  side  to  side  of  the  window-sill.  Suddenly 
he  stooped,  with  a  sharp  exclamation.  Bending 
over  his  shoulder  I  saw  what  it  was  that  had  at- 
tracted his  attention. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      249 

Clearly  imprinted  upon  the  dust-coated  gray 
stone  of  the  sill  was  a  confused  series  of  marks 
—  tracks  —  call  them  what  you  will. 

Smith  straightened  himself  and  turned  a 
wondering  look  upon  me. 

"What  is  it,  Petrie?"  he  said  amazedly. 
"  Some  kind  of  bird  has  been  here,  and  recently." 

Inspector  Weymouth  in  turn  examined  the 
marks. 

"  I  never  saw  bird  tracks  like  these,  Mr. 
Smith,"  he  muttered. 

Smith  was  tugging  at  the  lobe  of  his  ear. 

"  No,"  he  returned  reflectively ;  "  come  to 
think  of  it,  neither  did  I." 

He  twisted  around,  looking  at  the  man  on  the 
bed. 

"  Do  you  think  it  was  all  an  illusion?  "  asked 
the  detective. 

"  What  about  those  marks  on  the  window- 
sill?"  jerked  Smith. 

He  began  restlessly  pacing  about  the  room, 
sometimes  stopping  before  the  locked  safe  and 
frequently  glancing  at  Norris  West. 

Suddenly  he  walked  out  and  briefly  examined 
the  other  apartments,  only  to  return  again  to 
the  bedroom. 

"  Petrie,"  he  said,  "  we  are  losing  valuable 
time.     West  must  be  aroused." 


250      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

Inspector  Weymouth  stared. 

Smith  turned  to  me  impatiently.  The  doctor 
summoned  by  the  police  had  gone.  "  Is  there 
no  means  of  arousing  him,  Petrie?  "  he  said. 

"  Doubtless/'  I  replied,  "  he  could  be  revived 
if  one  but  knew  what  drug  he  had  taken." 

My  friend  began  his  restless  pacing  again,  and 
suddenly  pounced  upon  a  little  phial  of  tabloids 
which  had  been  hidden  behind  some  books  on  a 
shelf  near  the  bed.  He  uttered  a  triumphant 
exclamation. 

"  See  what  we  have  here,  Petrie !  "  he  directed, 
handing  the  phial  to  me.     "  It  bears  no  label." 

I  crushed  one  of  the  tabloids  in  my  palm  and 
applied  my  tongue  to  the  powder. 

"  Some  preparation  of  chloral  hydrate,"  I  pro- 
nounced. 

"A  sleeping  draught?"  suggested  Smith 
eagerly. 

"We  might  try,"  I  said,  and  scribbled  a  for- 
mula upon  a  leaf  of  my  notebook.  I  asked  Wey- 
mouth to  send  the  man  who  accompanied  him 
to  call  up  the  nearest  chemist  and  procure  the 
antidote. 

During  the  man's  absence  Smith  stood  contem- 
plating the  unconscious  inventor,  a  peculiar  ex- 
pression upon  his  bronzed  face. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      251 

"  Andaman  —  second/'  he  muttered.  "  Shall 
we  find  the  key  to  the  riddle  here,  I  wonder?  " 

Inspector  Weymouth,  who  had  concluded,  I 
think,  that  the  mysterious  telephone  call  was 
due  to  mental  aberration  on  the  part  of  Norris 
West,  was  gnawing  at  his  mustache  impatiently 
when  his  assistant  returned.  I  administered  the 
powerful  restorative,  and  although,  as  later 
transpired,  chloral  was  not  responsible  for  West's 
condition,  the  antidote  operated  successfully. 

Norris  West  struggled  into  a  sitting  position, 
and  looked  about  him  with  haggard  eyes. 

"  The  Chinamen !  The  Chinamen !  "  he  mut- 
tered. 

He  sprang  to  his  feet,  glaring  wildly  at  Smith 
and  me,  reeled,  and  almost  fell. 

"  It  is  all  right,"  I  said,  supporting  him. 
"  I'm  a  doctor.     You  have  been  unwell." 

"Have  the  police  come?"  he  burst  out. 
"  The  safe  —  try  the  safe !  " 

"  It's  all  right,"  said  Inspector  Weymouth. 
"  The  safe  is  locked  —  unless  someone  else  knows 
the  combination,  there's  nothing  to  worry 
about." 

"  No  one  else  knows  it,"  said  West,  and 
staggered  unsteadily  to  the  safe.  Clearly  his 
mind  was  in  a  dazed  condition,  but,  setting  his 


252      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

jaw  with  a  curious  expression  of  grim  determi- 
nation, he  collected  his  thoughts  and  opened  the 
safe. 

He  bent  down,  looking  in. 

In  some  way  the  knowledge  came  to  me  that 
the  curtain  was  about  to  rise  on  a  new  and  sur- 
prising act  in  the  Fu-Manchu  drama. 

"  God !  "  he  whispered  —  we  could  scarcely 
hear  him  — "  the  plans  are  gone ! " 


Chapter  XIX 

I  HAVE  never  seen  a  man  quite  so  surprised 
as  Inspector  Weymouth. 

"  This  is  absolutely  incredible !  "  he  said. 
"  There's  only  one  door  to  your  chambers.  We 
found  it  bolted  from  the  inside.'' 

"  Yes,"  groaned  West,  pressing  his  hand  to 
his  forehead.  "  I  bolted  it  myself  at  eleven 
o'clock,  when  I  came  in." 

"  No  human  being  could  climb  up  or  down  to 
your  windows.  The  plans  of  the  aero-torpedo 
were  inside  a  safe." 

"  I  put  them  there  myself,"  said  West,  "  on 
returning  from  the  War  Office,  and  I  had  occa- 
sion to  consult  them  after  I  had  come  in  and 
bolted  the  door.  I  returned  them  to  the  safe 
and  locked  it.  That  it  was  still  locked  you  saw 
for  yourselves,  and  no  one  else  in  the  world 
knows  the  combination." 

"  But  the  plans  have  gone,"  said  Weymouth. 
"It's  magic!  How  was  it  done?  What 
happened  last  night,  sir?  What  did  you  mean 
when  you  rang  us  up?" 

Smith  during  this  colloquy  was  pacing  rapidly 

253 


254      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

up  and  down  the  room.  He  turned  abruptly  to 
the  aviator. 

"  Every  fact  you  can  remember,  Mr.  West, 
please,"  he  said  tersely;  "  and  be  as  brief  as  you 
possibly  can."  , 

"  I  came  in,  as  I  said,"  explained  West, 
"  about  eleven  o'clock,  and,  having  made  some 
notes  relating  to  an  interview  arranged  for  this 
morning,  I  locked  the  plans  in  the  safe  and 
turned  in." 

"  There  was  no  one  hidden  anywhere  in  your 
chambers?"  snapped  Smith. 

u  There  was  not,"  replied  West.  "  I  looked. 
I  invariably  do.  Almost  immediately,  I  went 
to  sleep." 

"  How  many  chloral  tabloids  did  you  take?  " 
I  interrupted. 

Norris  West  turned  to  me  with  a  slow  smile. 

"  You're  cute,  Doctor,"  he  said.  "  I  took  two. 
It's  a  bad  habit,  but  I  can't  sleep  without.  They 
are  specially  made  up  for  me  by  a  firm  in  Phila- 
delphia. 

"  How  long  sleep  lasted,  when  it  became  filled 
with  uncanny  dreams,  and  when  those  dreams 
merged  into  reality,  I  do  not  know  —  shall 
never  know,  I  suppose.  But  out  of  the  dream- 
less void  a  face  came  to  me  —  closer  —  closer  — 
and  peered  into  mine. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      255 

"  I  was  in  that  curious  condition  wherein  one 
knows  that  one  is  dreaming  and  seeks  to  awaken 
■ — to  escape.  But  a  nightmare-like  oppression 
held  me.  So  I  must  lie  and  gaze  into  the  seared 
yellow  face  that  hung  over  me,  for  it  would  drop 
so  close  that  I  could  trace  the  cicatrized  scar 
running  from  the  left  ear  to  the  corner  of  the 
mouth,  and  drawing  up  the  lip  like  the  lip  of  a 
snarling  cur.  I  could  look  into  the  malignant, 
jaundiced  eyes;  I  could  hear  the  dim  whispering 
of  the  distorted  mouth  —  whispering  that  seemed 
to  counsel  something  —  something  evil.  That 
whispering  intimacy  was  indescribably  repul- 
sive. Then  the  wicked  yellow  face  would  be 
withdrawn,  and  would  recede  until  it  became 
as  a  pin's  head  in  the  darkness  far  above  me  — 
almost  like  a  glutinous,  liquid  thing. 

"  Somehow  I  got  upon  my  feet,  or  dreamed  I 
did  —  God  knows  where  dreaming  ended  and 
reality  began.  Gentlemen,  maybe  you'll  con- 
clude I  went  mad  last  night,  but  as  I  stood  hold- 
ing on  to  the  bedrail  I  heard  the  blood  throbbing 
through  my  arteries  with  a  noise  like  a  screw- 
propeller.  I  started  laughing.  The  laughter 
issued  from  my  lips  with  a  shrill  whistling  sound 
that  pierced  me  with  physical  pain  and  seemed 
to  wake  the  echoes  of  the  whole  block.  I  thought 
myself  I  was  going  mad,  and  I  tried  to  command 


256      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

my  will  —  to  break  the  power  of  the  chloral  — 
for  I  concluded  that  I  had  accidentally  taken  an 
overdose. 

u  Then  the  walls  of  my  bedroom  started  to  re- 
cede, till  at  last  I  stood  holding  on  to  a  bed 
which  had  shrunk  to  the  size  of  a  doll's  cot,  in 
the  middle  of  a  room  like  Trafalgar  Square! 
That  window  yonder  was  such  a  long  way  off  I 
could  scarcely  see  it,  but  I  could  just  detect  a 
Chinaman  —  the  owner  of  the  evil  yellow  face 
—  creeping  through  it.  He  was  followed  by  an- 
other, who  was  enormously  tall  —  so  tall  that, 
as  they  came  towards  me  (and  it  seemed  to  take 
them  something  like  half-an-hour  to  cross  this 
incredible  apartment  in  my  dream),  the  second 
Chinaman  seemed  to  tower  over  me  like  a  cy- 
press-tree. 

"  I  looked  up  to  his  face  —  his  wicked,  hair- 
less face.  Mr.  Smith,  whatever  age  I  live  to, 
I'll  never  forget  that  face  I  saw  last  night  —  or 
did  I  see  it?  God  knows!  The  pointed  chin, 
the  great  dome  of  a  forehead,  and  the  eyes  — 
heavens  above,  the  huge  green  eyes !  " 

He  shook  like  a  sick  man,  and  I  glanced  at 
Smith  significantly.  Inspector  Weymouth  was 
stroking  his  mustache,  and  his  mingled  expres- 
sion of  incredulity  and  curiosity  was  singular  to 
behold. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      257 

"  The  pumping  of  my  blood,"  continued  West, 
"  seemed  to  be  bursting  my  body ;  the  room  kept 
expanding  and  contracting.  One  time  the  ceil- 
ing would  be  pressing  down  on  my  head,  and  the 
Chinamen  —  sometimes  I  thought  there  were  two 
of  them,  sometimes  twenty  —  became  dwarfs; 
the  next  instant  it  shot  up  like  the  roof  of  a 
cathedral. 

" '  Can  I  be  awake/  I  whispered,  '  or  am  I 
dreaming?  ' 

"  My  whisper  went  sweeping  in  windy  echoes 
about  the  walls,  and  was  lost  in  the  shadowy 
distances  up  under  the  invisible  roof. 

" i  You  are  dreaming  —  yes.'  It  was  the 
Chinaman  with  the  green  eyes  who  was  address- 
ing me,  and  the  words  that  he  uttered  appeared 
to  occupy  an  immeasurable  time  in  the  utterance. 
4  But  at  will  I  can  render  the  subjective  objec- 
tive.' I  don't  think  I  can  have  dreamed  those 
singular  words,  gentlemen. 

"  And  then  he  fixed  the  green  eyes  upon  me  — 
the  blazing  green  eyes.  I  made  no  attempt  to 
move.  They  seemed  to  be  draining  me  of  some- 
thing vital  —  bleeding  me  of  every  drop  of  men- 
tal power.  The  whole  nightmare  room  grew 
green,  and  I  felt  that  I  was  being  absorbed  into 
its  greenness. 

"  I  can  see  what  you  think.    And  even  in  my;, 


258     THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

delirium  —  if  it  was  delirium  —  I  thought  the 
same.  Now  comes  the  climax  of  my  experience 
—  my  vision  —  I  don't  know  what  to  call  it. 
I  saw  some  words  issuing  from  my  own  mouth !  " 

Inspector  Weymouth  coughed  discreetly. 
Smith  whisked  round  upon  him. 

"  This  will  be  outside  your  experience,  Inspec- 
tor, I  know,/'  he  said,  "  but  Mr.  Norris  West's 
statement  does  not  surprise  me  in  the  least.  I 
know  to  what  the  experience  was  due." 

Weymouth  stared  incredulously,  but  a  dawn- 
ing perception  of  the  truth  was  come  to  me,  too. 

"  How  I  saw  a  sound  I  just  won't  attempt  to 
explain;  I  simply  tell  you  I  saw  it.  Some- 
how I  knew  I  had  betrayed  myself  —  given  some- 
thing away." 

"  You  gave  away  the  secret  of  the  lock  combi- 
nation ! "  rapped  Smith. 

u  gk  t  »  grunted  Weymouth. 

But  West  went  on  hoarsely: 

"Just  before  the  blank  came  a  name  flashed 
before  my  eyes.     It  was  *  Bayard  Taylor.'  " 

At  that  I  interrupted  West. 

"  I  understand !  "  I  cried.  "  I  understand ! 
Another  name  has  just  occurred  to  me,  Mr.  West 
i — that  of  the  Frenchman,  Moreau." 

"  You  have  solved  the  mystery,"  said  Smith. 
*'  It  was  natural  Mr.  West  should  have  thought 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      259 

of  the  American  traveler,  Bayard  Taylor, 
though.  Moreau's  book  is  purely  scientific.  He 
has  probably  never  read  it." 

"  I  fought  with  the  stupor  that  was  over- 
coming me/'  continued  West,  "  striving  to  asso- 
ciate that  vaguely  familiar  name  with  the  fan- 
tastic things  through  which  I  moved.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  the  room  was  empty  again.  I  made 
for  the  hall,  for  the  telephone.  I  could  scarcely 
drag  my  feet  along.  It  seemed  to  take  me  half- 
an-hour  to  get  there.  I  remember  calling  up 
Scotland  Yard,  and  I  remember  no  more." 

There  was  a  short,  tense  interval. 

In  some  respects  I  was  nonplused;  but, 
frankly,  I  think  Inspector  Weymouth  considered 
West  insane.  Smith,  his  hands  locked  behind 
his  back,  stared  out  of  the  window. 

"Andaman  —  second"  he  said  suddenly. 
"Weymouth,  when  is  the  first  train  to  Til- 
bury?" 

"  Five  twenty-two  from  Fenchurch  Street," 
replied  the  Scotland  Yard  man  promptly. 

"  Too  late !  "  rapped  my  friend.  "  Jump  in 
a  taxi  and  pick  up  two  good  men  to  leave  for 
China  at  once!  Then  go  and  charter  a  special 
to  Tilbury  to  leave  in  twenty-five  minutes. 
Order  another  cab  to  wait  outside  for  me." 

Weymouth  was  palpably  amazed,  but  Smith's 


260      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

tone  was  imperative.  The  Inspector  departed 
hastily. 

I  stared  at  Smith,  not  comprehending  what 
prompted  this  singular  course. 

"  Now  that  you  can  think  clearly,  Mr.  West," 
he  said,  "  of  what  does  your  experience  remind 
you?  The  errors  of  perception  regarding  time; 
the  idea  of  seeing  a  sound;  the  illusion  that  the 
room  alternately  increased  and  diminished  in 
size;  your  fit  of  laughter,  and  the  recollection  of 
the  name  Bayard  Taylor.  Since  evidently  you 
are  familiar  with  that  author's  work  — '  The 
Land  of  the  Saracen/  is  it  not?  —  these  symp- 
toms of  the  attack  should  be  familiar,  I  think." 

Norris  West  pressed  his  hands  to  his  evidently 
aching  head. 

"  Bayard  Taylor's  book,"  he  said  dully.  "  Yes ! 
...  I  know  of  what  my  brain  sought  to  remind 
me  —  Taylor's  account  of  his  experience  under 
hashish.  Mr.  Smith,  someone  doped  me  with 
hashish ! " 

Smith  nodded  grimly. 

"  Cannabis  indica"  I  said  — "  Indian  hemp. 
That  is  what  you  were  drugged  with.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  now  you  experience  a  feeling  of  nau- 
sea and  intense  thirst,  with  aching  in  the  muscles, 
particularly  the  deltoid.  I  think  you  must  have 
taken  at  least  fifteen  grains." 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      261 

Smith  stopped  his  perambulations  immediately 
in  front  of  West,  looking  into  his  dulled  eyes. 

"  Someone  visited  your  chambers  last  night," 
he  said  slowly,  "  and  for  your  chloral  tabloids 
substituted  some  containing  hashish,  or  perhaps 
not  pure  hashish.  Fu-Manchu  is  a  profound 
chemist." 

Norris  West  started. 

"  Someone  substituted  — "  he  began. 

"  Exactly,"  said  Smith,  looking  at  him  keenly ; 
"  someone  who  was  here  yesterday.  Have  you 
any  idea  whom  it  could  have  been?  " 

West  hesitated.  "  I  had  a  visitor  in  the 
afternoon,"  he  said,  seemingly  speaking  the 
words  unwillingly,  "  but  — * 

"A  lady?"  jerked  Smith.  "I  suggest  that  it 
was  a  lady." 

West  nodded. 

"  You're  quite  right,"  he  admitted.  "  I  don't 
know  how  you  arrived  at  the  conclusion,  but  a 
lady  whose  acquaintance  I  made  recently  —  a 
foreign  lady." 

"  Karamaneh !  "  snapped  Smith. 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean  in  the  least, 
but  she  came  here  —  knowing  this  to  be  my 
present  address  —  to  ask  me  to  protect  her  from 
a  mysterious  man  who  had  followed  her  right 
from  Charing  Cross.     She  said  he  was  down  ill 


262      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

the  lobby,  and  naturally,  I  asked  her  to  wait 
here  whilst  I  went  and  sent  him  about  his  busi- 
ness." 

He  laughed  shortly. 

"  I  am  over-old,"  he  said,  "  to  be  guyed  by  a 
woman.  You  spoke  just  now  of  someone  called 
Fu-Manchu.  Is  that  the  crook  I'm  indebted  to 
for  the  loss  of  my  plans?  I've  had  attempts 
made  by  agents  of  two  European  governments, 
but  a  Chinaman  is  a  novelty." 

"  This  Chinaman,"  Smith  assured  him,  "  is  the 
greatest  novelty  of  his  age.  You  recognize  your 
symptoms  now  from  Bayard  Taylor's  account?" 

"  Mr.  West's  statement,"  I  said,  "  ran  closely 
parallel  with  portions  of  Moreau's  book  on 
*  Hashish  Hallucinations.'  Only  Fu-Manchu,  I 
think,  would  have  thought  of  employing  Indian 
hemp.  I  doubt,  though,  if  it  was  pure  Cannabis 
indica.    At  any  rate,  it  acted  as  an  opiate  — " 

"And  drugged  Mr.  West,"  interrupted  Smith, 
"sufficiently  to  enable  Fu-Manchu  to  enter  un- 
observed." 

"  Whilst  it  produced  symptoms  which"  rendered 
him  an  easy  subject  for  the  Doctor's  influence. 
It  is  difficult  in  this  case  to  separate  hallucina- 
tion from  reality,  but  I  think,  Mr.  West,  that 
Fu-Manchu  must  have  exercised  an  hypnotic  in- 
fluence upon  your  drugged  brain.    We  have  evi 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU     263 

dence  that  he  dragged  from  you  the  secret  of  the 
combination." 

"  God  knows  we  have ! "  said  West.  "  But 
who  is  this  Fu-Manchu,  and  how  —  how  in  the 
name  of  wonder  did  he  get  into  my  chambers?  " 

Smith  pulled  out  his  watch.  "  That,"  he 
said  rapidly,  "  I  cannot  delay  to  explain  if  I'm 
to  intercept  the  man  who  has  the  plans.  Come 
along,  Petrie;  we  must  be  at  Tilbury  within  the 
hour.    There  is  just  a  bare  chance." 


Chapter  XX 

IT  was  with  my  mind  in  a  condition  of  unique 
perplexity  that  I  hurried  with  Nayland 
Smith  into  the  cab  which  waited  and 
dashed  off  through  the  streets  in  which  the  busy 
life  of  London  just  stirred  into  being.  I  sup- 
pose I  need  not  say  that  I  could  penetrate  no 
farther  into  this,  Fu-Manchu's  latest  plot,  than 
the  drugging  of  Norris  West  with  hashish?  Of 
his  having  been  so  drugged  with  Indian  hemp 
—  that  is,  converted  temporarily  into  a  maniac  — 
would  have  been  evident  to  any  medical  man  who 
had  heard  his  statement  and  noted  the  distress- 
ing after-effects  which  conclusively  pointed  to 
Indian  hemp  poisoning.  Knowing  something  of 
the  Chinese  doctor's  powers,  I  could  understand 
that  he  might  have  extracted  from  West  the  se- 
cret of  the  combination  by  sheer  force  of  will 
whilst  the  American  was  under  the  influence  of 
the  drug.  But  I  could  not  understand  how  Fu- 
Manchu  had  gained  access  to  locked  chambers  on 
the  third  story  of  a  building. 

"Smith,"  I  said,  "those  bird  tracks  on  the 

264 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      265 

window-sill  —  they   furnish  the  key  to  a  mys- 
tery which  is  puzzling  me." 

"  They  do,"  said  Smith,  glancing  impatiently 
at  his  watch.  "  Consult  your  memories  of  Dr. 
Fu-Manchu's  habits  —  especially  your  memories 
of  his  pets." 

I  reviewed  in  my  mind  the  creatures  grue- 
some and  terrible  which  surrounded  the  China- 
man —  the  scorpions,  the  bacteria,  the  noxious 
things  which  were  the  weapons  wherewith  he 
visited  death  upon  whomsoever  opposed  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  potential  Yellow  Empire.  But 
no  one  of  them  could  account  for  the  imprints 
upon  the  dust  of  West's  window-sill. 

"  You  puzzle  me,  Smith,"  I  confessed.  "  There 
is  much  in  this  extraordinary  case  that  puzzles 
me.  I  can  think  of  nothing  to  account  for  the 
marks." 

"Have  you  thought  of  Fu-Manchu's  marmo- 
set?" asked  Smith. 

"The  monkey!"  I  cried. 

"They  were  the  footprints  of  a  small  ape," 
my  friend  continued.  "  For  a  moment  I  was  de- 
ceived as  you  were,  and  believed  them  to  be  the 
tracks  of  a  large  bird ;  but  I  have  seen  the  foot- 
prints of  apes  before  now,  and  a  marmoset, 
though  an  American  variety,  I  believe,  is  not  un- 
like some  of  the  apes  of  Burma." 


266      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

"  I  am  still  in  the  dark,"  I  said. 

"It  is  pure  hypothesis,"  continued  Smith, 
"but  here  is  the  theory  —  in  lieu  of  a  better 
one  it  covers  the  facts.  The  marmoset  —  and  it 
is  contrary  from  the  character  of  Pu-Manchu  to 
keep  any  creature  for  mere  amusement  —  is 
trained  to  perform  certain  duties. 

"  You  observed  the  waterspout  running  up  be- 
side the  window;  you  observed  the  iron  bar  in- 
tended to  prevent  a  window-cleaner  from  falling 
out?  For  an  ape  the  climb  from  the  court  be- 
low to  the  sill  above  was  a  simple  one.  He 
carried  a  cord,  probably  attached  to  his  body. 
He  climbed  on  to  the  sill,  over  the  bar,  and 
climbed  down  again.  By  means  of  this  cord  a 
rope  was  pulled  up  over  the  bar,  by  means  of  the 
rope  one  of  those  ladders  of  silk  and  bamboo. 
One  of  the  Doctor's  servants  ascended  —  prob- 
ably to  ascertain  if  the  hashish  had  acted  suc- 
cessfully. That  was  the  yellow  dream-face 
which  West  saw  bending  over  him.  Then 
followed  the  Doctor,  and  to  his  giant  will  the 
drugged  brain  of  West  was  a  pliant  instrument 
which  he  bent  to  his  own  ends.  The  court  would 
be  deserted  at  that  hour  of  the  night,  and,  in 
any  event,  directly  after  the  ascent  the  ladder 
probably  was  pulled  up,  only  to  be  lowered  again 
when  West  had  revealed  the  secret  of  his  own 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      26T 

safe  and  Fu-Manchu  had  secured  the  plans. 
The  reclosing  of  the  safe  and  the  removing  of 
the  hashish  tabloids,  leaving  no  clew  beyond  the 
delirious  ravings  of  a  drug  slave  —  for  so  any- 
one unacquainted  with  the  East  must  have  con- 
strued West's  story  —  is  particularly  character- 
istic. His  own  tabloids  were  returned,  of 
course.  The  sparing  of  his  life  alone  is  a  re- 
finement of  art  which  points  to  a  past  master." 

"  Karamaneh  was  the  decoy  again?"  I  said 
shortly. 

"  Certainly.  Hers  was  the  task  to  ascertain 
West's  habits  and  to  substitute  the  tabloids. 
She  it  was  who  waited  in  the  luxurious  car  — 
infinitely  less  likely  to  attract  attention  at  that 
hour  in  that  place  than  a  modest  taxi  —  and 
received  the  stolen  plans.  She  did  her  work 
well. 

"  Poor  Karamaneh ;  she  had  no  alternative ! 
I  said  I  would  have  given  a  hundred  pounds  for 
a  sight  of  the  messenger's  face  —  the  man  to 
whom  she  handed  them.  I  would  give  a  thou- 
sand now !  " 

"  Andaman  —  second"  I  said.  "  What  did 
she  mean?  " 

"Then  it  has  not  dawned  upon  you?"  cried 
Smith  excitedly,  as  the  cab  turned  into  the  sta- 
tion.    "  The  Andaman,  of  the  Oriental  Naviga- 


268      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

tion  Company's  line,  leaves  Tilbury  with  the 
next  tide  for  China  ports.  Our  man  is  a  second- 
class  passenger.  I  am  wiring  to  delay  her  de- 
parture, and  the  special  should  get  us  to  the 
docks  inside  of  forty  minutes." 

Very  vividly  I  can  reconstruct  in  my  mind 
that  dash  to  the  docks  through  the  early  au- 
tumn morning.  My  friend  being  invested  with 
extraordinary  powers  from  the  highest  author- 
ities, by  Inspector  Weymouth's  instructions  the 
line  had  been  cleared  all  the  way. 

Something  of  the  tremendous  importance  of 
Nayland  Smith's  mission  came  home  to  me  as 
we  hurried  on  to  the  platform,  escorted  by  the 
station-master,  and  the  five  of  us  —  for  Wey- 
mouth had  two  other  C.I.D.  men  with  him — - 
took  our  seats  in  the  special. 

Off  we  went  on  top  speed,  roaring  through" 
stations,  where  a  glimpse  might  be  had  of 
wondering  officials  upon  the  platforms,  for  a 
special  train  was  a  novelty  on  the  line.  All 
ordinary  traffic  arrangements  were  held  up  until 
we  had  passed  through,  and  we  reached  Til- 
bury in  time  which  I  doubt  not  constituted  a 
record. 

There  at  the  docks  was  the  great  liner,  de- 
layed in  her  passage  to  the  Far  East  by  the  will 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      269 

of  my  royally  empowered  companion.  It  was 
novel,  and  infinitely  exciting. 

"  Mr.  Commissioner  Nay  land  Smith? "  said 
the  captain  interrogatively,  when  we  were  shown 
into  his  room,  and  looked  from  one  to  another 
and  back  to  the  telegraph  form  which  he  held  in 
his  hand. 

"  The  same,  Captain/'  said  my  friend  briskly. 
"  I  shall  not  detain  you  a  moment.  I  am  in- 
structing the  authorities  at  all  ports  east  of 
Suez  to  apprehend  one  of  your  second-class 
passengers,  should  he  leave  the  ship.  He  is  in 
possession  of  plans  which  practically  belong  to 
the  British  Government?  " 

"Why  not  arrest  him  now?"  asked  the  sea- 
man bluntly. 

"  Because  I  don't  know  him.  All  second-class 
passengers'  baggage  will  be  searched  as  they 
land.  I  am  hoping  something  from  that,  if  all 
else  fails.  But  I  want  you  privately  to  instruct 
your  stewards  to  watch  any  passenger  of  Orien- 
tal nationality,  and  to  cooperate  with  the  two 
Scotland  Yard  men  who  are  joining  you  for  the 
voyage.  I  look  to  you  to  recover  these  plans, 
Captain." 

"  I  will  do  my  best,"  the  captain  assured  him. 

Then,  from  amid  the  heterogeneous  group  on 
the  dockside,   we  were  watching  the  liner  de- 


270      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

part,  and  Nayland  Smith's  expression  was  a 
very  singular  one.  Inspector  Weymouth  stood 
with  us,  a  badly  puzzled  man.  Then  occurred 
the  extraordinary  incident  which  to  this  day  re- 
mains inexplicable,  for,  clearly  heard  by  all 
three  of  us,  a  guttural  voice  said : 

"Another  victory  for  China,  Mr.  Nayland 
Smith!" 

I  turned  as  though  I  had  been  stung.  Smith 
turned  also.  My  eyes  passed  from  face  to  face  of 
the  group  about  us.  None  was  familiar.  No 
one  apparently  had  moved  away. 

But  the  voice  was  the  voice  of  Doctor  Fu- 
Manchu. 

As  I  write  of  it,  now,  I  can  appreciate  the 
difference  between  that  happening,  as  it  ap- 
pealed to  us,  and  as  it  must  appeal  to  you  who 
merely  read  of  it.  It  is  beyond  my  powers  to 
convey  the  sense  of  the  uncanny  which  the  epi- 
sode created.  Yet,  even  as  I  think  of  it,  I  feel 
again,  though  in  lesser  degree,  the  chill  which 
seemed  to  creep  through  my  veins  that  day. 

From  my  brief  history  of  the  wonderful  and 
evil  man  who  once  walked,  by  the  way  unsus- 
pected, in  the  midst  of  the  people  of  England  — 
near  whom  you,  personally,  may  at  some  time 
unwittingly  have  been  —  I  am  aware  that  much 
must  be  omitted.     I  have  no  space  for  lengthy 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      271 

examinations  of  the  many  points  but  ill  illumi- 
nated with  which  it  is  dotted.  This  incident  at 
the  docks  is  but  one  such  point. 

Another  is  the  singular  vision  which  appeared 
to  me  whilst  I  lay  in  the  cellar  of  the  house  near 
Windsor.  It  has  since  struck  me  that  it 
possessed  peculiarities  akin  to  those  of  a  hashish 
hallucination.  Can  it  be  that  we  were  drugged 
on  that  occasion  with  Indian  hemp?  Can- 
nabis indica  is  a  treacherous  narcotic,  as  every 
medical  man  knows  full  well;  but  Fu-Manchu's 
knowledge  of  the  drug  was  far  in  advance  of 
our  slow  science.  West's  experience  proved  so 
much. 

I  may  have  neglected  opportunities  —  later, 
you  shall  judge  if  I  did  so  —  opportunities  to 
glean  for  the  West  some  of  the  strange  knowl- 
edge of  the  secret  East.  Perhaps,  at  a  fu- 
ture time,  I  may  rectify  my  errors.  Perhaps 
that  wisdom  —  the  wisdom  stored  up  by  Fu- 
Manchu  —  is  lost  forever.  There  is,  however, 
at  least  a  bare  possibility  of  its  survival,  in 
part;  and  I  do  not  wholly  despair  of  one  day 
publishing  a  scientific  sequel  to  this  record  of 
our  dealings  with  the  Chinese  doctor. 


Chapter  XXI 

TIME  wore  on  and  seemingly  brought  us  no 
nearer,  or  very  little  nearer,  to  our  goal. 
So  carefully  had  my  friend  Nayland 
Smith  excluded  the  matter  from  the  press  that, 
whilst  public  interest  was  much  engaged  with 
some  of  the  events  in  the  skein  of  mystery  which 
he  had  come  from  Burma  to  unravel,  outside  the 
Secret  Service  and  the  special  department  of 
Scotland  Yard  few  people  recognized  that  the 
several  murders,  robberies  and  disappearances 
formed  each  a  link  in  a  chain;  fewer  still  were 
aware  that  a  baneful  presence  was  in  our  midst, 
that  a  past  master  of  the  evil  arts  lay  concealed 
somewhere  in  the  metropolis;  searched  for  by 
the  keenest  wits  which  the  authorities  could  di- 
rect to  the  task,  but  eluding  all  —  triumphant, 
contemptuous. 

One  link  in  that  chain  Smith  himself  for  long 
failed  to  recognize.  Yet  it  was  a  big  and  im- 
portant link. 

"  Petrie,"  he  said  to  me  one  morning,  "  listen 
to  this: 

272 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU     273 

" '.  .  .  In  sight  of  Shanghai  —  a  clear,  dark 
night.  On  board  the  deck  of  a  junk  passing  close 
to  seaward  of  the  Andaman  a  blue  flare  started 
up.  A  minute  later  there  was  a  cry  of  "  Man 
overboard !  " 

" '  Mr.  Lewin,  the  chief  officer,  who  was  in 
charge,  stopped  the  engines.  A  boat  was  put 
out.  But  no  one  was  recovered.  There  are 
sharks  in  these  waters.  A  fairly  heavy  sea  was 
running. 

" '  Inquiry  showed  the  missing  man  to  be  a 
James  Edwards,  second  class,  booked  to  Shang- 
hai. I  think  the  name  was  assumed.  The  man 
was  some  sort  of  Oriental,  and  we  had  had  him 
under  close  observation.  .  .  .' " 

"  That's  the  end  of  their  report,"  exclaimed 
Smith. 

He  referred  to  the  two  C.I.D.  men  who  had 
joined  the  Andaman  at  the  moment  of  her  de- 
parture from  Tilbury. 

He  carefully  lighted  his  pipe. 

"Is  it  a  victory  for  China,  Petrie?"  he  said 
softly. 

"  Until  the  great  war  reveals  her  secret  re- 
sources —  and  I  pray  that  the  day  be  not  in  my 
time  —  we  shall  never  know,"  I  replied. 

Smith  began  striding  up  and  down  the  room. 


274      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  Whose  name,"  he  jerked  abruptly,  "  stands 
now  at  the  head  of  our  danger  list?  " 

He  referred  to  a  list  which  we  had  compiled 
of  the  notable  men  intervening  between  the  evil 
genius  who  secretly  had  invaded  London  and 
the  triumph  of  his  cause  —  the  triumph  of  the 
yellow  races. 

I  glanced  at  our  notes. 

"  Lord  Southery,"  I  replied. 

Smith  tossed  the  morning  paper  across  to  me. 

"  Look,"  he  said  shortly.     "  He's  dead." 

I  read  the  account  of  the  peer's  death,  and 
glanced  at  the  long  obituary  notice ;  but  no  more 
than  glanced  at  it.  He  had  but  recently  re- 
turned from  the  East,  and  now,  after  a  short 
illness,  had  died  from  some  affection  of  the 
heart.  There  had  been  no  intimation  that  his 
illness  was  of  a  serious  nature,  and  even  Smith, 
who  watched  over  his  flock  —  the  flock  threat- 
ened by  the  wolf,  Fu-Manchu  —  with  jealous 
zeal,  had  not  suspected  that  the  end  was  so  near. 

"  Do  you  think  he  died  a  natural  death, 
Smith?"  I  asked. 

My  friend  reached  across  the  table  and  rested 
the  tip  of  a  long  finger  upon  one  of  the  sub-head- 
ings to  the  account: 

?f  Sir  Frank  Narcombe  Summoned  Too  Late.* 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      275 

"  You  see,"  said  Smith,  "  Southery  died  during 
the  night,  but  Sir  Frank  Narcombe,  arriving 
a  few  minutes  later,  unhesitatingly  pronounced 
death  to  be  due  to  syncope,  and  seems  to  have 
noticed  nothing  suspicious." 

I  looked  at  him  thoughtfully. 

"  Sir  Frank  is  a  great  physician,"  I  said 
slowly ;  "  but  we  must  remember  he  would  be 
looking  for  nothing  suspicious." 

"  We  must  remember,"  rapped  Smith,  "  that, 
if  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  is  responsible  for  Southery's 
death,  except  to  the  eye  of  an  expert  there  would 
be  nothing  suspicious  to  see.  Fu-Manchu  leaves 
no  clews." 

"Are  you  going  around?"  I  asked. 

Smith  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  I  think  not,"  he  replied.  "  Either  a  greater 
One  than  Fu-Manchu  has  taken  Lord  Southery, 
or  the  yellow  doctor  has  done  his  work  so  well 
that  no  trace  remains  of  his  presence  in  the 
matter." 

Leaving  his  breakfast  untasted,  he  wandered 
aimlessly  about  the  room,  littering  the  hearth 
with  matches  as  he  constantly  relighted  his  pipe^ 
which  went  out  every  few  minutes. 

"  It's  no  good,  Petrie,"  he  burst  out  suddenly ; 
"  it  cannot  be  a  coincidence.  We  must  go  around 
and  see  him." 


276      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

An  hour  later  we  stood  in  the  silent  room,  with 
its  drawn  blinds  and  its  deathful  atmosphere, 
looking  down  at  the  pale,  intellectual  face  of 
Henry  Stradwick,  Lord  Southery,  the  greatest 
engineer  of  his  day.  The  mind  that  lay  behind 
that  splendid  brow  had  planned  the  construc- 
tion of  the  railway  for  which  Russia  had  paid 
so  great  a  price,  had  conceived  the  scheme  for 
the  canal  which,  in  the  near  future,  was  to  bring 
two  great  continents,  a  full  week's  journey  nearer 
one  to  the  other.  But  now  it  would  plan  no 
more. 

"  He  had  latterly  developed  symptoms  of 
angina  pectoris"  explained  the  family  physician ; 
"but  I  had  not  anticipated  a  fatal  termination 
so  soon.  I  was  called  about  two  o'clock  this 
morning,  and  found  Lord  Southery  in  a  danger- 
ously exhausted  condition.  I  did  all  that  was 
possible,  and  Sir  Frank  Narcombe  was  sent  for. 
But  shortly  before  his  arrival  the  patient  ex- 
pired." 

"  I  understand,  Doctor,  that  you  had  been 
treating  Lord  Southery  for  angina  pectoris?" 
I  said. 

"  Yes,"  was  the  reply,  "  for  some  months." 

"  You  regard  the  circumstances  of  his  end  as 
entirely  consistent  with  a  death  from  that 
cause?  " 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      277 

"  Certainly.  Do  you  observe  anything  un- 
usual yourself?  Sir  Frank  Narcombe  quite 
agrees  with.  me.  There  is  surely  no  room  for 
doubt?  " 

"  No,"  said  Smith,  tugging  reflectively  at  the 
lobe  of  his  left  ear.  "  We  do  not  question  the 
accuracy  of  your  diagnosis  in  any  way,  sir." 

The  physician  seemed  puzzled. 

"  But  am  I  not  right  in  supposing  that  you 
are  connected  with  the  police?"  asked  the 
physician. 

"  Neither  Dr.  Petrie  nor  myself  are  in  any  way 
connected  with  the  police,"  answered  Smith. 
"  But,  nevertheless,  I  look  to  you  to  regard  our 
recent  questions  as  confidential." 

As  we  were  leaving  the  house,  hushed  awe- 
somely in  deference  to  the  unseen  visitor  who 
had  touched  Lord  Southery  with  gray,  cold 
fingers,  Smith  paused,  detaining  a  black-coated 
man  who  passed  us  on  the  stairs. 

"You  were  Lord  Southery's  valet?" 

The  man  bowed. 

"  Were  you  in  the  room  at  the  moment  of  his 
fatal  seizure?  " 

"  I  was,  sir." 

"  Did  you  see  or  hear  anything  unusual  —  any- 
thing unaccountable?  " 

"  Nothing,  sir." 


278      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  No  strange  sounds  outside  the  house,  for 
instance?  " 

The  man  shook  his  head,  and  Smith,  taking 
my  arm,  passed  out  into  the  street. 

"  Perhaps  this  business  is  making  me  im? 
aginative,"  he  said ;  "  but  there  seems  to  be  some- 
thing tainting  the  air  in  yonder  —  something 
peculiar  to  houses  whose  doors  bear  the  invisible 
death-mark  of  Fu-Manchu." 

"  You  are  right,  Smith !  "  I  cried.  "  I  hesi- 
tated to  mention  the  matter,  but  I,  too,  have  de^ 
veloped  some  other  sense  which  warns  me  of  the 
Doctor's  presence.  Although  there  is  not  a 
scrap  of  confirmatory  evidence,  I  am  as  sure  that 
he  has  brought  about  Lord  Southery's  death  as 
if  I  had  seen  him  strike  the  blow." 

It  was  in  that  torturing  frame  of  mind — • 
chained,  helpless,  in  our  ignorance,  or  by  reason 
of  the  Chinaman's  supernormal  genius  —  that 
we  lived  throughout  the  ensuing  days.  My 
friend  began  to  look  like  a  man  consumed  by  a 
burning  fever.     Yet,  we  could  not  act. 

In  the  growing  dark  of  an  evening  shortly  fol- 
lowing I  stood  idly  turning  over  some  of  the 
works  exposed  for  sale  outside  a  second-hand 
bookseller's  in  New  Oxford  Street.  One  dealing 
with  the  secret  societies  of  China  struck  me  as 
being  likely  to  prove  instructive,  and  I  was  about 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      279 

to  call  the  shopman  when  I  was  startled  to  feel 
a  hand  clutch  my  arm. 

I  turned  around  rapidly  —  and  was  looking 
into  the  darkly  beautiful  eyes  of  Karamaneh! 
She  —  whom  I  had  seen  in  so  many  guises  — 
was  dressed  in  a  perfectly  fitting  walking  habit, 
and  had  much  of  her  wonderful  hair  concealed 
beneath  a  fashionable  hat. 

She  glanced  about  her  apprehensively. 

"  Quick !  Come  round  the  corner.  I  must 
speak  to  you/'  she  said,  her  musical  voice  thril- 
ling with  excitement. 

I  never  was  quite  master  of  myself  in  her 
presence.  He  must  have  been  a  man  of  ice  who 
could  have  been,  I  think,  for  her  beauty  had  all 
the  bouquet  of  rarity ;  she  was  a  mystery  —  and 
mystery  adds  charm  to  a  woman.  Probably  she 
should  have  been  under  arrest,  but  I  know  I 
would  have  risked  much  to  save  her  from  it. 

As  we  turned  into  a  quiet  thoroughfare  she 
stopped  and  said: 

"  I  am  in  distress.  You  have  often  asked  me 
to  enable  you  to  capture  Dr.  Fu-Manchu.  I  am 
prepared  to  do  so." 

I  could  scarcely  believe  that  I  heard  aright. 

"  Your  brother  — "  I  began. 

She  seized  my  arm  entreatingly,  looking  into 
my  eyes. 


280      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  You  are  a  doctor,"  she  said.  "  I  want  you 
to  come  and  see  him  now." 

"  What !     Is  he  in  London?  " 

"  He  is  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu." 

"And  you  would  have  me — " 

"Accompany  me  there,  yes." 

Nayland  Smith,  I  doubted  not,  would  have 
counseled  me  against  trusting  my  life  in  the 
hands  of  this  girl  with  the  pleading  eyes.  Yet 
I  did  so,  and  with  little  hesitation;  shortly  we 
were  traveling  eastward  in  a  closed  cab.  Kara* 
maneh  was  very  silent,  but  always  when  I  turned 
to  her  I  found  her  big  eyes  fixed  upon  me  with 
an  expression  in  which  there  was  pleading,  in 
which  there  was  sorrow,  in  which  there  was 
something  else  —  something  indefinable,  yet 
strangely  disturbing.  The  cabman  she  had  di- 
rected to  drive  to  the  lower  end  of  the  Com- 
mercial Road,  the  neighborhood  of  the  new  docks, 
and  the  scene  of  one  of  our  early  adventures 
with  Dr.  Fu-Manchu.  The  mantle  of  dusk  had 
closed  about  the  squalid  activity  of  the  East  End 
streets  as  we  neared  our  destination.  Aliens  of 
every  shade  of  color  were  about  us  now,  emerging 
from  burrow-like  alleys  into  the  glare  of  the 
lamps  upon  the  main  road.  In  the  short  space 
of  the  drive  we  had  passed  from  the  bright  world 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU     281 

of  the  West  into  the  dubious  underworld  of  the 
East. 

I  do  not  know  that  Karamaneh  moved ;  but  in 
sympathy,  as  we  neared  the  abode  of  the  sinister 
Chinaman,  she  crept  nearer  to  me,  and  when  the 
cab  was  discharged,  and  together  we  walked 
down  a  narrow  turning  leading  riverward,  she 
clung  to  me  fearfully,  hesitated,  and  even  seemed 
upon  the  point  of  turning  back.  But,  overcom- 
ing her  fear  or  repugnance,  she  led  on,  through 
a  maze  of  alleyways  and  courts,  wherein  I  hope- 
lessly lost  my  bearings,  so  that  it  came  home  to 
me  how  wholly  I  was  in  the  hands  of  this  girl 
whose  history  was  so  full  of  shadows,  whose  real 
character  was  so  inscrutable,  whose  beauty, 
whose  charm  truly  might  mask  the  cunning  of 
a  serpent. 

I  spoke  to  her. 

"  S-sh! "  She  laid  her  hand  upon  my  arm, 
enjoining  me  to  silence. 

The  high,  drab  brick  wall  of  what  looked  like 
some  part  of  a  dock  building  loomed  above  us 
in  the  darkness,  and  the  indescribable  stenches 
of  the  lower  Thames  were  borne  to  my  nostrils 
through  a  gloomy,  tunnel-like  opening,  beyond 
which  whispered  the  river.  The  muffled  clangor 
of  waterside  activity  was  about  us.     I  heard  a 


282      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

key  grate  in  a  lock,  and  Karamaneh  drew  me 
into  the  shadow  of  an  open  door,  entered,  and 
closed  it  behind  her. 

For  the  first  time  I  perceived,  in  contrast  to  the 
odors  of  the  court  without,  the  fragrance  of  the 
peculiar  perfume  which  now  I  had  come  to  as- 
sociate with  her.  Absolute  darkness  was  about 
us,  and  by  this  perfume  alone  I  knew  that  she 
was  near  to  me,  until  her  hand  touched  mine, 
and  I  was  led  along  an  uncarpeted  passage  and 
up  an  uncarpeted  stair.  A  second  door  was  um 
locked,  and  I  found  myself  in  an  exquisitely  fur- 
nished room,  illuminated  by  the  soft  light  of  a 
shaded  lamp  which  stood  upon  a  low,  inlaid 
table  amidst  a  perfect  ocean  of  silken  cushions, 
etrewn  upon  a  Persian  carpet,  whose  yellow  rich- 
ness was  lost  in  the  shadows  beyond  the  circle 
of  light. 

Karamaneh  raised  a  curtain  draped  before  a 
doorway,  and  stood  listening  intently  for  a 
moment. 

The  silence  was  unbroken. 

Then  something  stirred  amid  the  wilderness 
of  cushions,  and  two  tiny  bright  eyes  looked  up 
at  me.  Peering  closely,  I  succeeded  in  distin- 
guishing, crouched  in  that  soft  luxuriance,  a  lit- 
tle ape.     It  was  Dr.  Fu-Manchu's  marmoset. 

"  This  way,"  whispered  Karamaneh. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      283 

Never,  I  thought,  was  a  staid  medical  man 
committed  to  a  more  unwise  enterprise,  but  so 
far  I  had  gone,  and  no  consideration  of  prudence 
could  now  be  of  avail. 

The  corridor  beyond  wTas  thickly  carpeted. 
Following  the  direction  of  a  faint  light  which 
gleamed  ahead,  it  proved  to  extend  as  a  balcony 
across  one  end  of  a  spacious  apartment.  To- 
gether we  stood  high  up  there  in  the  shadows, 
and  looked  down  upon  such  a  scene  as  I  never 
could  have  imagined  to  exist  within  many  a  mile 
of  that  district. 

The  place  below  was  even  more  richly  ap- 
pointed than  the  room  into  which  first  we  had 
come.  Here,  as  there,  piles  of  cushions  formed 
splashes  of  gaudy  color  about  the  floor.  Three 
lamps  hung  by  chains  from  the  ceiling,  their 
light  softened  by  rich  silk  shades.  One  wall  was 
almost  entirely  occupied  by  glass  cases  contain- 
ing chemical  apparatus,  tubes,  retorts  and  other 
less  orthodox  indications  of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu's  pur- 
suits, whilst  close  against  another  lay  the  most 
extraordinary  object  of  a  sufficiently  extraordi- 
nary room  —  a  low  couch,  upon  which  was  ex- 
tended the  motionless  form  of  a  boy.  In  the 
light  of  a  lamp  which  hung  directly  above  him, 
his  olive  face  showed  an  almost  startling  re- 
semblance to  that  of  Karamaneh  —  save  that  the 


284      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

girl's  coloring  was  more  delicate.  He  had  black, 
curly  hair,  which  stood  out  prominently  against 
the  white  covering  upon  which  he  lay,  his  hands 
crossed  upon  his  breast. 

Transfixed  with  astonishment,  I  stood  looking 
down  upon  him.  The  wonders  of  the  "  Arabian 
Mghts "  were  wonders  no  longer,  for  here,  in 
East-End  London,  was  a  true  magician's  palace, 
lacking  not  its  beautiful  slave,  lacking  not  its 
enchanted  prince! 

"  It  is  Aziz,  my  brother,"  said  Karamaneh. 

We  passed  down  a  stairway  on  to  the  floor 
of  the  apartment.  Karamaneh  knelt  and  bent 
over  the  boy,  stroking  his  hair  and  whispering 
to  him  lovingly.  I,  too,  bent  over  him;  and  I 
shall  never  forget  the  anxiety  in  the  girl's  eyes 
as  she  watched  me  eagerly  whilst  I  made  a  brief 
examination. 

Brief,  indeed,  for  even  ere  I  had  touched  him 
I  knew  that  the  comely  shell  held  no  spark  of 
life.  But  Karamaneh  fondled  the  cold  hands, 
and  spoke  softly  in  that  Arabic  tongue  which 
long  before  I  had  divined  must  be  her  native 
language. 

Then,  as  I  remained  silent,  she  turned  and 
looked  at  me,  read  the  truth  in  my  eyes,  and 
rose  from  her  knees,  stood  rigidly  upright, 
and  clutched  me  tremblingly. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      285 

"  He  is  not  dead  —  he  is  not  dead !  "  she  whis- 
pered, and  shook  me  as  a  child  might,  seeking 
to  arouse  me  to  a  proper  understanding.  "  Oh, 
tell  me  he  is  not — " 

"  I  cannot/'  I  replied  gently,  "  for  indeed  he 
is." 

"  No !  "  she  said,  wild-eyed,  and  raising  her 
hands  to  her  face  as  though  half  distraught. 
"  You  do  not  understand  —  yet  you  are  a  doc- 
tor.    You  do  not  understand  — " 

She  stopped,  moaning  to  herself  and  looking 
from  the  handsome  face  of  the  boy  to  me.  It 
was  pitiful;  it  was  uncanny.  But  sorrow  for 
the  girl  predominated  in  my  mind. 

Then  from  somewhere  I  heard  a  sound  which 
I  had  heard  before  in  houses  occupied  by  Dr. 
Fu-Manchu  —  that  of  a  muffled  gong. 

"  Quick !  "  Karamaneh  had  me  by  the  arm. 
"  Up !     He  has  returned !  " 

She  fled  up  the  stairs  to  the  balcony,  I  close 
at  her  heels.  The  shadows  veiled  us,  the  thick 
carpet  deadened  the  sound  of  our  tread,  or  cer- 
tainly wTe  must  have  been  detected  by  the  man 
who  entered  the  room  we  had  just  quitted. 

It  was  Dr.  Fu-Manchu! 

Yellow-robed,  immobile,  the  inhuman  green 
eyes  glittering  catlike  even,  it  seemed,  before  the 
light  struck  them,  he  threaded  his  way  through 


286      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

the  archipelago  of  cushions  and  bent  over  the 
couch  of  Aziz. 

Karamaneh  dragged  me  down  on  to  my  knees. 

"  Watch !  "  she  whispered.     "  Watch !  " 

Dr.  Fu-Manchu  felt  for  the  pulse  of  the  boy 
whom  a  moment  since  I  had  pronounced  dead, 
and,  stepping  to  the  tall  glass  case,  took  out  a 
long-necked  flask  of  chased  gold,  and  from  it, 
into  a  graduated  glass,  he  poured  some  drops  of 
an  amber  liquid  wholly  unfamiliar  to  me.  I 
watched  him  with  all  my  eyes,  and  noted  how 
high  the  liquid  rose  in  the  measure.  He  charged 
a  needle-syringe,  and,  bending  again  over  Aziz, 
made  an  injection. 

Then  all  the  wonders  I  had  heard  of  this  man 
became  possible,  and  with  an  awe  which  any 
other  physician  who  had  examined  Aziz  must 
have  felt,  I  admitted  him  a  miracle-worker. 
For  as  I  watched,  all  but  breathless,  the  dead 
came  to  life!  The  glow  of  health  crept  upon 
the  olive  cheek  —  the  boy  moved  —  he  raised  his 
hands  above  his  head  —  he  sat  up,  supported  by 
the  Chinese  doctor! 

Fu-Manchu  touched  some  hidden  bell.  A  hide- 
ous yellow  man  with  a  scarred  face  entered, 
carrying  a  tray  upon  which  were  a  bowl  contain- 
ing some  steaming  fluid,  apparently  soup,  what 
looked  like  oaten  cakes,  and  a  flask  of  red  wine* 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      28T 

As  the  boy,  exhibiting  no  more  unusual  symp- 
toms than  if  he  had  just  awakened  from  a  normal 
sleep,  commenced  his  repast,  Karamaneh  drew 
me  gently  along  the  passage  into  the  room  which 
we  had  first  entered.  My  heart  leaped  wildly  as 
the  marmoset  bounded  past  us  to  drop  hand 
over  hand  to  the  lower  apartment  in  search  of 
its  master. 

"  You  see,"  said  Karamaneh,  her  voice  quiver- 
ing, "  he  is  not  dead !  But  without  Fu-Manchu 
he  is  dead  to  me.  How  can  I  leave  him  when 
he  holds  the  life  of  Aziz  in  his  hand?  " 

"  You  must  get  me  that  flask,  or  some  of  its 
contents,"  I  directed.  "  But  tell  me,  how  does 
he  produce  the  appearance  of  death?  " 

"  I  cannot  tell  you,"  she  replied.  "  I  do  not 
know.  It  is  something  in  the  wine.  In  another 
hour  Aziz  will  be  again  as  you  saw  him.  But 
see."  And,  opening  a  little  ebony  box,  she 
produced  a  phial  half  filled  with  the  amber 
liquid. 

"  Good !  "  I  said,  and  slipped  it  into  my  pocket. 
"  When  will  be  the  best  time  to  seize  Fu-Manchu 
and  to  restore  your  brother?  " 

"  I  will  let  you  know,"  she  whispered,  and, 
opening  the  door,  pushed  me  hurriedly  from  the 
room.  "  He  is  going  away  to-night  to  the  north ; 
but     you     must     not     come     to-night.     Quick! 


288     THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

Quick !    Along  the  passage.     He  may  call  me  a| 
any  moment." 

So,  with  the  phial  in  my  pocket  containing  a, 
potent  preparation  unknown  to  Western  science, 
and  with  a  last  long  look  into  the  eyes  of  Kara* 
maneh,  I  passed  out  into  the  narrow  alley,  out 
from  the  fragrant  perfumes  of  that  mystery 
house  into  the  place  of  Thames-side  stenches. 


w 


Chapter  XXII 

46^L^K  T^  must  arrange  for  the  house  to  be 
raided  without  delay/ '  said  Smith. 
"  This  time  we  are  sure  of  our 
ally—" 

"  But  we  must  keep  our  promise  to  her,"  I 
interrupted. 

"  You  can  look  after  that,  Petrie,"  my  friend 
said.  "  I  will  devote  the  whole  of  my  attention 
to  Dr.  Fu-Manchu !  "  he  added  grimly. 

Up  and  down  the  room  he  paced,  gripping  the 
blackened  briar  between  his  teeth,  so  that  the 
muscles  stood  out  squarely  upon  his  lean  jaws. 
The  bronze  which  spoke  of  the  Burmese  sun  en- 
hanced the  brightness  of  his  gray  eyes. 

"What  have  I  all  along  maintained?"  he 
jerked,  looking  back  at  me  across  his  shoulder 
— "  that,  although  Karamaneh  was  one  of  the 
strongest  weapons  in  the  Doctor's  armory,  she 
was  one  which  some  day  would  be  turned  against 
him.    That  day  has  dawned." 

"We  must  await  word  from  her." 

"  Quite  so." 

289 


290      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

He  knocked  out  his  pipe  on  the  grate.     Then : 

"  Have  you  any  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  fluid 
in  the  phial  ?  " 

"  Not  the  slightest.  And  I  have  none  to  spare 
for  analytical  purposes." 

Nayland  Smith  began  stuffing  mixture  into  the 
hot  pipe-bowl,  and  dropping  an  almost  equal 
quantity  on  the  floor. 

"  I  cannot  rest,  Petrie,"  he  said.  "  I  am 
itching  to  get  to  work.  Yet,  a  false  move, 
and  — " 

He  lighted  his  pipe,  and  stood  staring  from 
the  window. 

"  I  shall,  of  course,  take  a  needle-syringe  with 
me,"  I  explained. 

Smith  made  no  reply. 

"  If  I  but  knew  the  composition  of  the  drug 
which  produced  the  semblance  of  death,"  I  con- 
tinued, "  my  fame  would  long  survive  my  ashes." 

My  friend  did  not  turn.     But: 

"  She  said  it  was  something  he  put  in  the 
wine?"  he  jerked. 

"  In  the  wine,  yes." 

Silence  fell.  My  thoughts  reverted  to  Kara- 
maneh,  whom  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  held  in  bonds 
stronger  than  any  slave-chains.  For,  with  Aziz, 
her  brother,  suspended  between  life  and  death, 
what  could  she  do  save  obey  the  mandates  of  the 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      291 

cunning  Chinaman?  What  perverted  genius 
was  his!  If  that  treasury  of  obscure  wisdom 
which  he,  perhaps  alone  of  living  men,  had  rifled, 
could  but  be  thrown  open  to  the  sick  and  suffer- 
ing, the  name  of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  would  rank  with 
the  golden  ones  in  the  history  of  healing. 

Nayland  Smith  suddenly  turned,  and  the  ex- 
pression upon  his  face  amazed  me. 

"  Look  up  the  next  train  to  L !  "  he  rapped. 

"To  L ?    What—?" 

"  There's  the  Bradshaw.  We  haven't  a  minute 
to  waste." 

In  his  voice  was  the  imperative  note  I  knew 
so  well;  in  his  eyes  was  the  light  which  told  of 
an  urgent  need  for  action  —  a  portentous  truth 
suddenly  grasped. 

"  One  in  half-an-hour  —  the  last." 

"We  must  catch  it." 

No  further  word  of  explanation  he  vouchsafed, 
but  darted  off  to  dress;  for  he  had  spent  the 
afternoon  pacing  the  room  in  his  dressing-gown 
and  smoking  without  intermission. 

Out  and  to  the  corner  we  hurried,  and  leaped 
into  the  first  taxi  upon  the  rank.  Smith  en- 
joined the  man  to  hasten,  and  we  were  off  —  all 
in  that  whirl  of  feverish  activity  which  char- 
acterized my  friend's  movements  in  times  of  im- 
portant action. 


292      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

He  sat  glancing  impatiently  from  the  window 
and  twitching  at  the  lobe  of  his  ear. 

"  I  know  you  will  forgive  me,  old  man,"  he 
said,  "but  there  is  a  little  problem  which  I  am 
trying  to  work  out  in  my  mind.  Did  you  bring 
the  things  I  mentioned?  " 

"  Yes." 

Conversation  lapsed,  until,  just  as  the  cab 
turned  into  the  station,  Smith  said: 

"  Should  you  consider  Lord  Southery  to  have 
been  the  first  constructive  engineer  of  his  time, 
Petrie?" 

"  Undoubtedly,"  I  replied. 

"  Greater  than  Von  Homber,  of  Berlin?  " 

"  Possibly  not.  But  Von  Homber  has  been 
dead  for  three  years." 

"  Three  years,  is  it?  " 

"  Roughly." 

"Ah!" 

We  reached  the  station  in  time  to  secure  a 
non-corridor  compartment  to  ourselves,  and  to 
allow  Smith  leisure  carefully  to  inspect  the  oc- 
cupants of  all  the  others,  from  the  engine  to  the 
guard's  van.  He  was  muffled  up  to  the  eyes,  and 
he  warned  me  to  keep  out  of  sight  in  the  corner 
of  the  compartment.  In  fact,  his  behavior  had 
me  bursting  with  curiosity.  The  train  having 
started : 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      293 

"Don't  imagine,  Petrie,"  said  Smith,  "that 
I  am  trying  to  lead  you  blindfolded  in  order 
later  to  dazzle  you  with  my  perspicacity.  I  am 
simply  afraid  that  this  may  be  a  wild-goose 
chase.  The  idea  upon  which  I  am  acting  does 
not  seem  to  have  struck  you.  I  wish  it  had. 
The  fact  would  argue  in  favor  of  its  being  sound." 

"  At  present  I  am  hopelessly  mystified." 

"Well,  then,  I  will  not  bias  you  towards  my 
view.  But  just  study  the  situation,  and  see  if 
you  can  arrive  at  the  reason  for  this  sudden  jour- 
ney. I  shall  be  distinctly  encouraged  if  you  suc- 
ceed." 

But  I  did  not  succeed,  and  since  Smith  ob- 
viously was  unwilling  to  enlighten  me,  I  pressed 
him  no  more.  The  train  stopped  at  Rugby, 
where  he  was  engaged  with  the  stationmaster  in 
making     some     mysterious     arrangements.     At 

L ,  however,  their  object  became  plain,  for  a 

high-power  car  was  awaiting  us,  and  into  this  we 
hurried  and  ere  the  greater  number  of  passen- 
gers had  reached  the  platform  were  being  driven 
off  at  headlong  speed  along  the  moon-bathed 
roads. 

Twenty  minutes'  rapid  traveling,  and  a  white 
mansion  leaped  into  the  line  of  sight,  standing 
out  vividly  against  its  woody  backing. 

"Stradwick  Hall,"  said  Smith.     "The  home 


294      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

of  Lord  Southery.     We  are  first  — but  Dr.  Fu- 
Manchu  was  on  the  train." 

Then  the  truth  dawned  upon  the  gloom  of  my; 
perplexity* 


Chapter  XXIII 

4  4"\Z^^-^  extraordinary  proposal  fills   me 
j(      with  horror,  Mr.  Smith !  " 

The  sleek  little  man  in  the  dress 
suit,  who  looked  like  a  head  waiter  (but  was 
the  trusted  legal  adviser  of  the  house  of 
Southery)  puffed  at  his  cigar  indignantly.  Nay- 
land  Smith,  whose  restless  pacing  had  led  him 
to  the  far  end  of  the  library,  turned,  a  remote 
but  virile  figure,  and  looked  back  to  where  I  stood 
by  the  open  hearth  with  the  solicitor. 

"  I  am  in  your  hands,  Mr.  Henderson/'  he 
said,  and  advanced  upon  the  latter,  his  gray 
eyes  ablaze.  "  Save  for  the  heir,  who  is  abroad 
on  foreign  service,  you  say  there  is  no  kin  of 
Lord  Southery  to  consider.  The  word  rests  with 
you.  If  I  am  wrong,  and  you  agree  to  my  pro- 
posal, there  is  none  whose  susceptibilities  will 
suffer  — " 

"  My  own,  sir !  " 

"  If  I  am  right,  and  you  prevent  me  from 
acting,  you  become  a  murderer,  Mr.  Henderson." 

295 


296      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

The  lawyer  started,  staring  nervously  up  at 
Smith,  who  now  towered  over  him  menacingly. 

"  Lord  Southery  was  a  lonely  man,"  continued 
my  friend.  "  If  I  could  have  placed  my  proposi- 
tion before  one  of  his  blood,  I  do  not  doubt  what 
my  answer  had  been.  Why  do  you  hesitate? 
Why  do  you  experience  this  feeling  of  horror?  " 

Mr.  Henderson  stared  down  into  the  fire.  His 
constitutionally  ruddy  face  was  pale. 

"  It  is  entirely  irregular,  Mr.  Smith.  We 
have  not  the  necessary  powers — " 

Smith  snapped  his  teeth  together  impatiently, 
snatching  his  watch  from  his  pocket  and  glancing 
at  it. 

"  I  am  vested  with  the  necessary  powers.  I 
will  give  you  a  written  order,  sir." 

"  The  proceeding  savors  of  paganism.  Such 
a  course  might  be  admissible  in  China,  in 
Burma  — " 

"Do  you  weigh  a  life  against  such  quibbles? 
Do  you  suppose  that,  granting  my  irresponsibil- 
ity, Dr.  Petrie  would  countenance  such  a  thing 
if  he  doubted  the  necessity?" 

Mr.  Henderson  looked  at  me  with  pathetic 
hesitance. 

"  There  are  guests  in  the  house  —  mourners 
who  attended  the  ceremony  to-day.     They — " 

"  Will  never  know,  if  we  are  in  error,"  inter' 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      297 

rupted  Smith.     "Good  God!  why  do  you  de- 
lay? » 

"You  wish  it  to  be  kept  secret?" 

"You  and  I,  Mr.  Henderson,  and  Dr.  Petrie 

will  go  now.     We  require  no  other  witnesses. 

We  are  answerable  only  to  our  consciences." 
The  lawyer  passed  his  hand  across  his  damp 

brow. 

"  I  have  never  in  my  life  been  called  upon  to 
come  to  so  momentous  a  decision  in  so  short  a 
time,"  he  confessed. 

But,  aided  by  Smith's  indomitable  will,  he 
made  his  decision.  As  its  result,  we  three,  look- 
ing and  feeling  like  conspirators,  hurried  across 
the  park  beneath  a  moon  whose  placidity  was  a 
rebuke  to  the  turbulent  passions  which  reared 
their  strangle-growth  in  the  garden  of  England. 
Not  a  breath  of  wind  stirred  amid  the  leaves. 
The  calm  of  perfect  night  soothed  everything  to 
slumber.  Yet,  if  Smith  were  right  (and  I  did 
not  doubt  him),  the  green  eyes  of  Dr.  Fu-Man- 
chu  had  looked  upon  the  scene;  and  I  found 
myself  marveling  that  its  beauty  had  not  wilted 
up.  Even  now  the  dread  Chinaman  must  be  near 
to  us. 

As  Mr.  Henderson  unlocked  the  ancient  iron 
gates  he  turned  to  Nayland  Smith.  His  face 
twitched  oddlv. 


298      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

"  Witness  that  I  do  this  unwillingly/'  he  said 
— "  most  unwillingly." 

"  Mine  be  the  responsibility,"  was  the  reply. 

Smith's  voice  quivered,  responsive  to  the  nerv- 
ous vitality  pent  up  within  that  lean  frame.  He 
stood  motionless,  listening  —  and  I  knew  for 
whom  he  listened.  He  peered  about  him  to 
right  and  left  —  and  I  knew  whom  he  expected 
but  dreaded  to  see. 

Above  us  now  the  trees  looked  down  with  a 
solemnity  different  from  the  aspect  of  the 
monarchs  of  the  park,  and  the  nearer  we  came  to 
our  journey's  end  the  more  somber  and  lowering 
bent  the  verdant  arch  —  or  so  it  seemed. 

By  that  path,  patched  now  with  pools  of  moon- 
light, Lord  Southery  had  passed  upon  his  bier, 
with  the  sun  to  light  his  going;  by  that  path 
several  generations  of  Stradwicks  had  gone  to 
their  last  resting-place. 

To  the  doors  of  the  vault  the  moon  rays  found 
free  access.  No  branch,  no  leaf,  intervened.  Mr. 
Henderson's  face  looked  ghastly.  The  keys 
which  he  carried  rattled  in  his  hand. 

"  Light  the  lantern,"  he  said  unsteadily. 

Nayland  Smith,  who  again  had  been  peering 
suspiciously  about  into  the  shadows,  struck  a 
match  and  lighted  the  lantern  which  he  carried. 
He  turned  to  the  solicitor. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      299 

"  Be  calm,  Mr.  Henderson,'5  he  said  sternly. 
"  It  is  your  plain  duty  to  your  client." 

"  God  be  my  witness  that  I  doubt  it,"  replied 
Henderson,  and  opened  the  door. 

We  descended  the  steps.  The  air  beneath  was 
damp  and  chill.  It  touched  us  as  with  clammy 
fingers;  and  the  sensation  was  not  wholly 
physical. 

Before  the  narrow  mansion  which  now  sufficed 
Lord  Southery,  the  great  engineer  whom  kings 
had  honored,  Henderson  reeled  and  clutched  at 
me  for  support.  Smith  and  I  had  looked  to  him 
for  no  aid  in  our  uncanny  task,  and  rightly. 

With  averted  eyes  he  stood  over  by  the  steps 
of  the  tomb,  whilst  my  friend  and  myself  set  to 
work.  In  the  pursuit  of  my  profession  I  had 
undertaken  labors  as  unpleasant,  but  never  amid 
an  environment  such  as  this.  It  seemed  that  gen- 
erations of  Stradwicks  listened  to  each  turn  of 
every  screw. 

At  last  it  was  done,  and  the  pallid  face  of 
Lord  Southery  questioned  the  intruding  light. 
Nayland  Smith's  hand  was  as  steady  as  a  rigid 
bar  when  he  raised  the  lantern.  Later,  I  knew, 
there  would  be  a  sudden  releasing  of  the  tension 
of  will  —  a  reaction  physical  and  mental  —  but 
not  until  his  work  was  finished. 

That  my  own  hand  was  steady  I  ascribed  to  one 


300      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

thing  solely  —  professional  zeal.  For,  under 
conditions  which,  in  the  event  of  failure  and  ex- 
posure, must  have  led  to  an  unpleasant  inquiry 
by  the  British  Medical  Association,  I  was  about 
to  attempt  an  experiment  never  before  essayed 
by  a  physician  of  the  white  races. 

Though  I  failed,  though  I  succeeded,  that  it 
ever  came  before  the  B.M.A.,  or  any  other  council, 
was  improbable;  in  the  former  event,  all  but 
impossible.  But  the  knowledge  that  I  was  about 
to  practice  charlatanry,  or  what  any  one  of  my 
fellow-practitioners  must  have  designated  as 
such,  was  with  me.  Yet  so  profound  had  my  be- 
lief become  in  the  extraordinary  being  whose 
existence  was  a  danger  to  the  world  that  I  reveled 
in  my  immunity  from  official  censure.  I  was 
glad  that  it  had  fallen  to  my  lot  to  take  at  least 
one  step  —  though  blindly  —  into  the  future  of 
medical  science. 

So  far  as  my  skill  bore  me,  Lord  Southery  was 
dead.  Unhesitatingly,  I  would  have  given  a 
death  certificate,  save  for  two  considerations. 
The  first,  although  his  latest  scheme  ran  contrary 
from  the  interests  of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu,  his  genius, 
diverted  into  other  channels,  would  serve  the 
yellow  group  better  than  his  death.  The  sec- 
ond, I  had  seen  the  boy  Aziz  raised  from  a  state 
as  like  death  as  this. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      301 

From  the  phial  of  amber-hued  liquid  which 
I  had  with  me,  I  charged  the  needle  syringe.  J 
made  the  injection,  and  waited. 

"  If  he  is  really  dead !  "  whispered  Smith.  "  It 
seems  incredible  that  he  can  have  survived  for 
three  days  without  food.  Yet  I  have  known  a 
fakir  to  go  for  a  week." 

Mr.  Henderson  groaned. 

Watch  in  hand,  I  stood  observing  the  gray 
face. 

A  second  passed;  another;  a  third.  In  the 
fourth  the  miracle  began.  Over  the  seemingly 
cold  clay  crept  the  hue  of  pulsing  life.  It  came 
in  waves  —  in  waves  which  corresponded  with 
the  throbbing  of  the  awakened  heart;  which 
swept  fuller  and  stronger ;  which  filled  and  quick- 
ened the  chilled  body. 

As  we  rapidly  freed  the  living  man  from  the 
trappings  of  the  dead  one,  Southery,  uttering  a 
stifled  scream,  sat  up,  looked  about  him  with 
half-glazed  eyes,  and  fell  back. 

"  My  God !  "  cried  Smith. 

"  It  is  all  right,"  I  said,  and  had  time  to  note 
how  my  voice  had  assumed  a  professional  tone. 
"  A  little  brandy  from  my  flask  is  all  that  is  nec- 
essary now." 

"  You  have  two  patients,  Doctor,"  rapped  my 
friend. 


302      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

Mr.  Henderson  had  fallen  in  a  swoon  to  the 
floor  of  the  vault. 

"  Quiet,"  whispered  Smith ;  "  he  is  here." 

He  extinguished  the  light. 

I  supported  Lord  Southery.  "  What  has  hap- 
pened? "  he  kept  moaning.  "  Where  am  I?  Oh, 
God!  what  has  happened?" 

I  strove  to  reassure  him  in  a  whisper,  and 
placed  my  traveling  coat  about  him.  The  door 
at  the  top  of  the  mausoleum  steps  we  had  re- 
closed  but  not  relocked.  Now,  as  I  upheld  the 
man  whom  literally  we  had  rescued  from  the 
grave,  I  heard  the  door  reopen.  To  aid  Hender- 
son I  could  make  no  move.  Smith  was  breathing 
hard  beside  me.  I  dared  not  think  what  was 
about  to  happen,  nor  what  its  effects  might  be 
upon  Lord  Southery  in  his  exhausted  condition. 

Through  the  Memphian  dark  of  the  tomb  cut  a 
spear  of  light,  touching  the  last  stone  of  the 
stairway. 

A  guttural  voice  spoke  some  words  rapidly, 
and  I  knew  that  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  stairs.  Although  I  could  not  see 
my  friend,  I  became  aware  that  Nayland  Smith 
had  his  revolver  in  his  hand,  and  I  reached  into 
my  pocket  for  mine. 

At  last  the  cunning  Chinaman  was  about  to 
fall  into  a  trap.     It  would  require  all  his  genius, 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      303 

I  thought,  to  save  him  to-night.  Unless  his  sus- 
picions were  aroused  by  the  unlocked  door,  his 
capture  was  imminent. 

Someone  was  descending  the  steps. 

In  my  right  hand  I  held  my  revolver,  and  with' 
my  left  arm  about  Lord  Southery,  I  waited 
through  ten  such  seconds  of  suspense  as  I  have 
rarely  known. 

The  spear  of  light  plunged  into  the  well  of 
darkness  again. 

Lord  Southery,  Smith  and  myself  were  hidden 
by  the  angle  of  the  wall;  but  full  upon  the 
purplish  face  of  Mr.  Henderson  the  beam  shone. 
In  some  way  it  penetrated  to  the  murk  in  his 
mind;  and  he  awakened  from  his  swoon  with  a 
hoarse  cry,  struggled  to  his  feet,  and  stood  look- 
ing up  the  stair  in  a  sort  of  frozen  horror. 

Smith  was  past  him  at  a  bound.  Something 
flashed  towards  him  as  the  light  was  extin- 
guished. I  saw  him  duck,  and  heard  the  knife 
ring  upon  the  floor. 

I  managed  to  move  sufficiently  to  see  at  the 
top,  as  I  fired  up  the  stairs,  the  yellow  face  of 
Dr.  Fu-Manchu,  to  see  the  gleaming,  chatoyant 
eyes,  greenly  terrible,  as  they  sought  to  pierce 
the  gloom.  A  flying  figure  was  racing  up,  three 
steps  at  a  time  (that  of  a  brown  man  scantily 
clad).     He  stumbled  and  fell,  by  which  I  knew 


304      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

that  he  was  hit ;  but  went  on  again,  Smith  hard 
on  his  heels. 

"  Mr.  Henderson I "  I  cried,  "  relight  the 
lantern  and  take  charge  of  Lord  Southery.  Here 
is  my  flask  on  the  floor.     I  rely  upon  you." 

Smith's  revolver  spoke  again  as  I  went  bounds 
ing  up  the  stair.  Black  against  the  square  of 
moonlight  I  saw  him  stagger,  I  saw  him  fall.  As 
he  fell,  for  the  third  time,  I  heard  the  crack  of 
his  revolver. 

Instantly  I  was  at  his  side.  Somewhere  along 
the  black  aisle  beneath  the  trees  receding  foot- 
steps pattered. 

"  Are  you  hurt,  Smith?  "  I  cried  anxiously. 

He  got  upon  his  feet. 

"  He  has  a  dacoit  with  him,"  he  replied,  and 
showed  me  the  long  curved  knife  which  he  held  in 
his  hand,  a  full  inch  of  the  blade  bloodstained. 
"  A  near  thing  for  me,  Petrie." 

I  heard  the  whir  of  a  restarted  motor. 

"  We  have  lost  him,"  said  Smith. 

"  But  we  have  saved  Lord  Southery,"  I  said. 
"  Fu-Manchu  will  credit  us  with  a  skill  as  great 
as  his  own." 

"  We  must  get  to  the  car,"  Smith  muttered, 
"  and  try  to  overtake  them.  Ugh !  my  left  arm  is 
useless." 

"  It  would  be  mere  waste  of  time  to  attempt 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      305 

Ttio  overtake  them,"  I  argued,  "  for  we  have  no 
idea  in  which  direction  they  will  proceed." 

"  I  have  a  very  good  idea,"  snapped  Smith; 
"  Stradwick  Hall  is  less  than  ten  miles  from  the 
coast.  There  is  only  one  practicable  means  of 
conveying  an  unconscious  man  secretly  from  here 
to  London." 

"  You  think  he  meant  to  take  him  from  here 
to  London?" 

"  Prior  to  shipping  him  to  China ;  I  think  so. 
His  clearing-house  is  probably  on  the  Thames." 

"A  boat?" 

"A  yacht,  presumably,  is  lying  off  the  coast 
in  readiness.  Fu-Manchu  may  even  have  de- 
signed to  ship  him  direct  to  China." 

Lord  Southery,  a  bizarre  figure,  my  traveling 
coat  wrapped  about  him,  and  supported  by  his 
solicitor,  who  was  almost  as  pale  as  himself, 
emerged  from  the  vault  into  the  moonlight. 

"  This  is  a  triumph  for  you,  Smith,"  I  said. 

The  throb  of  Fu-Manchu's  car  died  into  faint- 
ness  and  was  lost  in  the  night's  silence. 

"  Only  half  a  triumph,"  he  replied.  "  But  we 
still  have  another  chance  —  the  raid  on  his  house. 
When  will  the  word  come  from  Karamaneh?" 

Southery  spoke  in  a  weak  voice. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  it  seems  I  am  raised 
from  the  dead." 


306      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

It  was  the  weirdest  moment  of  the  night 
wherein  we  heard  that  newly  buried  man  speak 
from  the  mold  of  his  tomb. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Smith  slowly,  "  and  spared 
from  the  fate  of  Heaven  alone  knows  how  many 
men  of  genius.  The  yellow  society  lacks  a 
Southery,  but  that  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  was  in  Ger- 
many three  years  ago  I  have  reason  to  believe; 
so  that,  even  without  visiting  the  grave  of  your 
great  Teutonic  rival,  who  suddenly  died  at  about 
that  time,  I  venture  to  predict  that  they  have  a 
Von  Homber.  And  the  futurist  group  in  China 
knows  how  to  make  men  work !  " 


Chapter  XXIV 

FROM  the  rescue  of  Lord  Southery  my  story 
bears  me  mercilessly  on  to  other  things. 
I  may  not  tarry,  as  more  leisurely  penmen, 
to  round  my  incidents;  they  were  not  of  my 
choosing.  I  may  not  pause  to  make  you  better 
acquainted  with  the  figure  of  my  drama;  its 
scheme  is  none  of  mine.  Often  enough,  in  those 
days,  I  found  a  fitness  in  the  lines  of  Omar : 

We  are  no  other  than  a  moving  show 

Of  Magic  Shadow-shapes  that  come  and  go 

Round  with  the  Sun-illumined  Lantern  held 
In  Midnight  by  the  Master  of  the  Show. 

But  "  the  Master  of  the  Show,"  in  this  case, 
was  Dr.  Fu-Manchu! 

I  have  been  asked  many  times  since  the  days 
with  which  these  records  deal:  Who  was  Dr. 
Fu-Manchu?  Let  me  confess  here  that  my  final 
answer  must  be  postponed.  I  can  only  indicate, 
at  this  place,  the  trend  of  my  reasoning,  and 
leave  my  reader  to  form  whatever  conclusion  he 
pleases. 

307 


308      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

What  group  can  we  isolate  and  label  as  re- 
sponsible for  the  overthrow  of  the  Manchus? 
The  casual  student  of  modern  Chinese  history 
will  reply:  "Young  China."  This  is  unsatis- 
factory. What  do  we  mean  by  Young  China? 
In  my  own  hearing  Fu-Manchu  had  disclaimed, 
with  scorn,  association  with  the  whole  of  that 
movement;  and  assuming  that  the  name  were 
not  an  assumed  one,  he  clearly  can  have  been  no 
anti-Manchu,  no  Republican. 

The  Chinese  Republican  is  of  the  mandarin 
class,  but  of  a  new  generation  which  veneers  its 
Confucianism  with  Western  polish.  These 
youthful  and  unbalanced  reformers,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  older  but  no  less  ill-balanced  provincial 
politicians,  may  be  said  to  represent  Young 
China.  Amid  such  turmoils  as  this  we  invari- 
ably look  for,  and  invariably  find,  a  Third  Party. 
In  my  opinion,  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  was  one  of  the 
leaders  of  such  a  party. 

Another  question  often  put  to  me  was :  Where 
did  the  Doctor  hide  during  the  time  that  he  pur- 
sued his  operations  in  London?  This  is  more 
susceptible  of  explanation.  For  a  time  Nayland 
Smith  supposed,  as  I  did  myself,  that  the  opium 
den  adjacent  to  the  old  Ratcliff  Highway  was  the 
Chinaman's  base  of  operations ;  later  we  came  to 
believe  that  the  mansion  near  Windsor  was  his 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      309 

hiding-place,  and  later  still,  the  hulk  lying  off 
the  downstream  flats.  But  I  think  I  can  state 
with  confidence  that  the  spot  which  he  had 
chosen  for  his  home  was  neither  of  these,  but 
the  East  End  riverside  building  which  I  was  the 
first  to  enter.  Of  this  I  am  all  but  sure ;  for  the 
reason  that  it  not  only  was  the  home  of  Fu- 
Manchu,  of  Karamaneh,  and  of  her  brother,  Aziz, 
but  the  home  of  something  else  —  of  something 
which  I  shall  speak  of  later. 

The  dreadful  tragedy  (or  series  of  tragedies) 
which  attended  the  raid  upon  the  place  will  al- 
ways mark  in  my  memory  the  supreme  horror 
of  a  horrible  case.  Let  me  endeavor  to  explain 
what  occurred. 

By  the  aid  of  Karamaneh,  you  have  seen  how 
we  had  located  the  whilom  warehouse,  which, 
from  the  exterior,  was  so  drab  and  dreary,  but 
which  within  was  a  place  of  wondrous  luxury. 
At  the  moment  selected  by  our  beautiful  accom- 
plice, Inspector  Weymouth  and  a  body  of  detect- 
ives entirely  surrounded  it ;  a  river  police  launch 
lay  off  the  wharf  which  opened  from  it  on  the 
river-side;  and  this  upon  a  singularly  black 
night,  than  which  a  better  could  not  have  been 
chosen. 

"You  will  fulfill  your  promise  to  me?"  said 
Karamaneh,  and  looked  up  into  my  face. 


310     THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCKS 

She  was  enveloped  in  a  big,  loose  cloak,  aixtl 
from  the  shadow  of  the  hood  her  wonderful  eyes 
gleamed  out  like  stars. 

"What  do  you  wish  us  to  do?"  asked  Nay- 
land  Smith. 

"  You  —  and  Dr.  Petrie,"  she  replied  swiftly, 
"  must  enter  first,  and  bring  out  Aziz.  Until  he 
is  safe  —  until  he  is  out  of  that  place  —  you  are 
to  make  no  attempt  upon  — " 

"Upon  Dr.  Fu-Manchu?"  interrupted  Wey- 
mouth; for  Karamaneh  hesitated  to  pronounce 
the  dreaded  name,  as  she  always  did.  "  But  how 
can  we  be  sure  that  there  is  no  trap  laid  for 
us?" 

The  Scotland  Yard  man  did  not  entirely  share 
my  confidence  in  the  integrity  of  this  Eastern 
girl  whom  he  knew  to  have  been  a  creature  of 
the  Chinaman's. 

"  Aziz  lies  in  the  private  room,"  she  explained 
eagerly,  her  old  accent  more  noticeable  than 
usual.  "  There  is  only  one  of  the  Burmese  men 
in  the  house,  and  he  —  he  dare  not  enter  with- 
out orders ! " 

"But  Fu-Manchu?" 

"  We  have  nothing  to  fear  from  him.  He  will 
be  your  prisoner  within  ten  minutes  from  now! 
I  have  no  time  for  words  —  you  must  believe !  " 
She  stamped  her  foot  impatiently. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      311 

"And  the  dacoit?"  snapped  Smith. 

"  He  also." 

"  I  think  perhaps  I'd  better  come  in,  too,"  said 
-Weymouth  slowly. 

Karamaneh  shrugged  her  shoulders  with  quick 
impatience,  and  unlocked  the  door  in  the  higli 
brick  wall  which  divided  the  gloomy,  evil-smell- 
ing court  from  the  luxurious  apartments  of  Dr. 
Fu-Manchu. 

"  Make  no  noise/'  she  warned.  And  Smith 
and  myself  followed  her  along  the  uncarpeted 
passage  beyond. 

Inspector  Weymouth,  with  a  final  word  of  in- 
struction to  his  second  in  command,  brought  up 
the  rear.  The  door  was  reclosed;  a  few  paces 
farther  on  a  second  was  unlocked.  Passing 
through  a  small  room,  unfurnished,  a  farther 
passage  led  us  to  a  balcony.  The  transition  was 
startling. 

Darkness  was  about  us  now,  and  silence:  a 
perfumed,  slumberous  darkness  —  a  silence  full 
of  mystery.  For,  beyond  the  walls  of  the  apart- 
ment whereon  we  looked  down  waged  the  un- 
ceasing battle  of  sounds  that  is  the  hymn  of  the 
great  industrial  river.  About  the  scented  con- 
fines which  bounded  us  now  floated  the  smoke- 
laden  vapors  of  the  Lower  Thames. 

From    the    metallic    but    infinitely    human 


312      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

clangor  of  dock-side  life,  from  the  unpleasant 
but  homely  odors  which  prevail  where  ships 
swallow  in  and  belch  out  the  concrete  evidences 
of  commercial  prosperity,  we  had  come  into  this 
incensed  stillness,  where  one  shaded  lamp  painted 
dim  enlargements  of  its  Chinese  silk  upon  the 
nearer  walls,  and  left  the  greater  part  of  the 
room  the  darker  for  its  contrast. 

Nothing  of  the  Thames-side  activity  —  of  the 
riveting  and  scraping  —  the  bumping  of  bales 

—  the  bawling  of  orders  —  the  hiss  of  steam  — 
penetrated  to  this  perfumed  place.  In  the  pool 
of  tinted  light  lay  the  deathlike  figure  of  a  dark- 
haired  boy,  Karamaneh's  muffled  form  bending 
over  him. 

"  At  last  I  stand  in  the  house  of  Dr.  Fu-Man- 
chu !  "  whispered  Smith. 

Despite  the  girl's  assurance,  we  knew  that 
proximity  to  the  sinister  Chinaman  must  be 
fraught  with  danger.  We  stood,  not  in  the 
lion's  den,  but  in  the  serpent's  lair. 

From  the  time  when  Nayland  Smith  had  come 
from  Burma  in  pursuit  of  this  advance-guard 
of  a  cogent  Yellow  Peril,  the  face  of  Dr.  Fu- 
Manchu  rarely  had  been  absent  from  my  dreams 
day  or  night.     The  millions  might  sleep  in  peace 

—  the  millions  in  whose  cause  we  labored !  —  but 
we  who  knew  the  reality  of  the  danger  knew; 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      313 

that  a  veritable  octopus  had  fastened  upon  Eng- 
land —  a  yellow  octopus  whose  head  was  that  of 
Dr.  Fu-Manchu,  whose  tentacles  were  dacoity, 
thuggee,  modes  of  death,  secret  and  swift,  which 
in  the  darkness  plucked  men  from  life  and  left 
no  clew  behind. 

a  Karamaneh !  "  I  called  softly. 

The  muffled  form  beneath  the  lamp  turned  so 
that  the  soft  light  fell  upon  the  lovely  face  of  the 
slave  girl.  She  who  had  been  a  pliant  instru- 
ment in  the  hands  of  Fu-Manchu  now  was  to  be 
the  means  whereby  society  should  be  rid  of  him. 

She  raised  her  finger  warningly ;  then  beckoned 
me  to  approach. 

My  feet  sinking  in  the  rich  pile  of  the  carpet, 
I  came  through  the  gloom  of  the  great  apart- 
ment in  to  the  patch  of  light,  and,  Karamaneh 
beside  me,  stood  looking  down  upon  the  boy.  It 
was  Aziz,  her  brother;  dead  so  far  as  Western 
lore  had  power  to  judge,  but  kept  alive  in  that 
deathlike  trance  by  the  uncanny  power  of  the 
Chinese  doctor. 

"  Be  quick,"  she  said ;  "  be  quick !  Awaken 
him !     I  am  afraid." 

From  the  case  which  I  carried  I  took  out  a 
needle-syringe  and  a  phial  containing  a  small 
quantity  of  amber-hued  liquid.  It  was  a  drug 
not  to  be  found  in  the  British  Pharmacopoeia. 


314      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

Of  its  constitution  I  knew  nothing.  Although 
I  had  had  the  phial  in  my  possession  for  some 
days  I  had  not  dared  to  devote  any  of  its  pre- 
cious contents  to  analytical  purposes.  The  am- 
ber drops  spelled  life  for  the  boy  Aziz,  spelled 
success  for  the  mission  of  Nayland  Smith,  spelled 
ruin  for  the  fiendish  Chinaman. 

I  raised  the  white  coverlet.  The  boy,  fully 
dressed,  lay  with  his  arms  crossed  upon  his 
breast.  I  discerned  the  mark  of  previous  in- 
jections as,  charging  the  syringe  from  the  phial, 
I  made  what  I  hoped  would  be  the  last  of  such 
experiments  upon  him.  I  would  have  given  half 
of  my  small  worldly  possessions  to  have  known 
the  real  nature  of  the  drug  which  was  now  cours- 
ing through  the  veins  of  Aziz  —  which  was  tint- 
ing the  grayed  face  with  the  olive  tone  of  life; 
which,  so  far  as  my  medical  training  bore  me, 
was  restoring  the  dead  to  life. 

But  such  was  not  the  purpose  of  my  visit.  I 
was  come  to  remove  from  the  house  of  Dr.  Fu- 
Manchu  the  living  chain  which  bound  Karamaneh 
to  him.  The  boy  alive  and  free,  the  Doctor's 
hold  upon  the  slave  girl  would  be  broken. 

My  lovely  companion,  her  hands  convulsively 
clasped,  knelt  and  devoured  with  her  eyes  the 
face  of  the  boy  who  was  passing  through  the 
most  amazing  physiological  change  in  the  his- 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      31S 

tory  of  therapeutics.  The  peculiar  perfume 
which  she  wore  —  which  seemed  to  be  a  part  of 
her  —  which  always  I  associated  with  her  —  was 
faintly  perceptible.  Karamaneh  was  breathing 
rapidly. 

"  You  have  nothing  to  fear,"  I  whispered ; 
"  see,  he  is  reviving.  In  a  few  moments  all  will 
be  well  with  him." 

The  hanging  lamp  with  its  garishly  colored 
shade  swung  gently  above  us,  wafted,  it  seemed, 
by  some  draught  which  passed  through  the  apart- 
ment. The  boy's  heavy  lids  began  to  quiver,  and 
Karamaneh  nervously  clutched  my  arm,  and 
held  me  so  whilst  we  watched  for  the  long-lashed 
eyes  to  open.  The  stillness  of  the  place  was 
positively  unnatural;  it  seemed  inconceivable 
that  all  about  us  was  the  discordant  activity  of 
the  commercial  East  End.  Indeed,  this  eerie 
silence  was  becoming  oppressive;  it  began  posi- 
tively to  appall  me. 

Inspector  Weymouth's  wondering  face  peeped 
over  my  shoulder. 

"Where  is  Dr.  Fu-Manchu?"  I  whispered,  as 
Nayland  Smith  in  turn  appeared  beside  me.  "  I 
cannot  understand  the  silence  of  the  house — " 

"  Look  about,"  replied  Karamaneh,  never  tak- 
ing her  eyes  from  the  face  of  Aziz. 

I    peered   around   the    shadowy    walls.     Tall 


316      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

glass  cases  there  were,  shelves  and  niches :  where 
once,  from  the  gallery  above,  I  had  seen  the 
tubes  and  retorts,  the  jars  of  unfamiliar  organ- 
isms, the  books  of  unfamiliar  lore,  the  impedi- 
menta of  the  occult  student  and  man  of  science 
—  the  visible  evidences  of  Fu-Manchu's  presence. 
Shelves  —  cases  —  niches  —  were  bare.  Of  the 
complicated  appliances  unknown  to  civilized 
laboratories,  wherewith  he  pursued  his  strange 
experiments,  of  the  tubes  wherein  he  isolated 
the  bacilli  of  unclassified  diseases,  of  the  yellow- 
bound  volumes  for  a  glimpse  at  which  (had  they 
known  of  their  contents)  the  great  men  of  Har- 
ley  Street  would  have  given  a  fortune  —  no 
trace  remained.  The  silken  cushions;  the  in- 
laid tables;  all  were  gone. 

The  room  was  stripped,  dismantled.  Had 
Fu-Manchu  fled?  The  silence  assumed  a  new 
significance.  His  dacoits  and  kindred  ministers 
of  death  all  must  have  fled,  too. 

"  You  have  let  him  escape  us !  "  I  said  rapidly. 
"  You  promised  to  aid  us  to  capture  him  —  to 
send  us  a  message  —  and  you  have  delayed 
until—" 

"  No,"  she  said ;  "  no !  "  and  clutched  at  my 
arm  again,  "Oh!  is  he  not  reviving  slowly? 
Are  you  sure  you  have  made  no  mistake?  " 

Her  thoughts  were  all  for  the  boy;  and  her 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      31T 

solicitude  touched  me.  I  again  examined  Aziz, 
the  most  remarkable  patient  of  my  busy  profes- 
sional career. 

As  I  counted  the  strengthening  pulse,  he 
opened  his  dark  eyes  —  which  were  so  like  the 
eyes  of  Karamaneh  —  and,  with  the  girl's  eager 
arms  tightly  about  him,  sat  up,  looking  wonder- 
ingly  around. 

Karamaneh  pressed  her  cheek  to  his,  whis- 
pering loving  words  in  that  softly  spoken  Arabic 
which  had  first  betrayed  her  nationality  to  Nay- 
land  Smith.  I  handed  her  my  flask,  which  I 
had  filled  with  wine. 

"  My  promise  is  fulfilled !  "  I  said.  "  You  are 
free!  Now  for  Fu-Manchu!  But  first  let  us 
admit  the  police  to  this  house ;  there  is  something 
uncanny  in  its  stillness." 

"  No,"  she  replied.  "  First  let  my  brother  be 
taken  out  and  placed  in  safety.  Will  you  carry 
him?" 

She  raised  her  face  to  that  of  Inspector  Wey- 
mouth, upon  which  was  written  awe  and  wonder. 

The  burly  detective  lifted  the  boy  as  tenderly 
as  a  woman,  passed  through  the  shadows  to  the 
stairway,  ascended,  and  was  swallowed  up  in 
the  gloom.  Nayland  Smith's  eyes  gleamed  fever- 
ishly.    He  turned  to  Karamaneh. 

"You    are   not    playing   with   us?"   he   said 


318      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

harshly.  "We  have  done  our  part;  it  remains 
for  you  to  do  yours." 

"Do  not  speak  so  loudly,"  the  girl  begged. 
"  He  is  near  us  —  and,  oh,  God,  I  fear  him  so !  " 

"Where  is  he?"  persisted  my  friend. 

Karamaneh's  eyes  were  glassy  with  fear  now, 

"  You  must  not  touch  him  until  the  police  are 
here,"  she  said  —  but  from  the  direction  of  her 
quick,  agitated  glances  I  knew  that,  her  brother 
safe  now,  she  feared  for  me,  and  for  me  alone. 
Those  glances  sent  my  blood  dancing;  for  Kara- 
maneh  was  an  Eastern  jewel  which  any  man  of 
flesh  and  blood  must  have  coveted  had  he  known 
it  to  lie  within  his  reach.  Her  eyes  were  twin 
lakes  of  mystery  which,  more  than  once,  I  had 
known  the  desire  to  explore. 

"  Look  —  beyond  that  curtain  " —  her  voice 
was  barely  audible — "but  do  not  enter.  Even 
as  he  is,  I  fear  him." 

Her  voice,  her  palpable  agitation,  prepared 
us  for  something  extraordinary.  Tragedy  and 
Fu-Manchu  were  never  far  apart.  Though  we 
were  two,  and  help  was  so  near,  we  were  in  the 
abode  of  the  most  cunning  murderer  who  ever 
came  out  of  the  East. 

It  was  with  strangely  mingled  emotions  that 
I  crossed  the  thick  carpet,  Nayland  Smith  be- 
side me,  and  drew  aside  the  draperies  conceal- 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      319 

ing  a  door,  to  which  Karamaneh  had  pointed. 
Then,  upon  looking  into  the  dim  place  beyond, 
all  else  save  what  it  held  was  forgotten. 

We  looked  upon  a  small,  square  room,  the  walls 
draped  with  fantastic  Chinese  tapestry,  the 
floor  strewn  with  cushions;  and  reclining  in  a 
corner,  where  the  faint,  blue  light  from  a  lamp, 
placed  upon  a  low  table,  painted  grotesque 
shadows  about  the  cavernous  face  —  was  Dr. 
Fu-Manchu ! 

At  sight  of  him  my  heart  leaped  —  and  seemed 
to  suspend  its  functions,  so  intense  was  the  hor- 
ror which  this  man's  presence  inspired  in  me. 
My  hand  clutching  the  curtain,  I  stood  watching 
him.  The  lids  veiled  the  malignant  green  eyes, 
but  the  thin  lips  seemed  to  smile.  Then  Smith 
silently  pointed  to  the  hand  which  held  a  little 
pipe.  A  sickly  perfume  assailed  my  nostrils, 
and  the  explanation  of  the  hushed  silence,  and 
the  ease  with  which  we  had  thus  far  executed 
our  plan,  came  to  me.  The  cunning  mind  was 
torpid  —  lost  in  a  brutish  world  of  dreams. 

Fu-Manchu  was  in  an  opium  sleep ! 

The  dim  light  traced  out  a  network  of  tiny 
lines,  which  covered  the  yellow  face  from  the 
pointed  chin  to  the  top  of  the  great  domed  brow, 
and  formed  deep  shadow  pools  in  the  hollows  be- 
neath his  eyes.     At  last  we  had  triumphed. 


320      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

I  could  not  determine  the  depth  of  his  obscene 
trance;  and  mastering  some  of  my  repugnance, 
and  forgetful  of  Karamaneh's  warning,  I  was 
about  to  step  forward  into  the  room,  loaded  with 
its  nauseating  opium  fumes,  when  a  soft  breath 
fanned  my  cheek. 

"  Do  not  go  in ! "  came  Karamaneh's  warning 
voice  —  hushed  —  trembling. 

Her  little  hand  grasped  my  arm.  She  drew 
Smith  and  myself  back  from  the  door. 

"  There  is  danger  there ! "  she  whispered. 
"  Do  not  enter  that  room !  The  police  must 
reach  him  in  some  way  —  and  drag  him  out ! 
Do  not  enter  that  room !  " 

The  girl's  voice  quivered  hysterically ;  her  eyes 
blazed  into  savage  flame.  The  fierce  resentment 
born  of  dreadful  wrongs  was  consuming  her  now ; 
but  fear  of  Fu-Manchu  held  her  yet.  Inspector 
Weymouth  came  down  the  stairs  and  joined 
us. 

"  I  have  sent  the  boy  to  Eyman's  room  at  the 
station,"  he  said.  "  The  divisional  surgeon  will 
look  after  him  until  you  arrive,  Dr.  Petrie.  All 
is  ready  now.  The  launch  is  just  off  the  wharf 
and  every  side  of  the  place  under  observation. 
"Where's  our  man?  " 

He  drew  a  pair  of  handcuffs  from  his  pocket 
and  raised   his  eyebrows  interrogatively.     The 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      321 

absence  of  sound  —  of  any  demonstration  from 
the  uncanny  Chinaman  whom  he  was  there  to 
arrest  —  puzzled  him. 

Nayland  Smith  jerked  his  thumb  toward  the 
curtain. 

At  that,  and  before  we  could  utter  a  word, 
Weymouth  stepped  to  the  draped  door.  He  was 
a  man  who  drove  straight  at  his  goal  and  saved 
reflections  for  subsequent  leisure.  I  think, 
moreover,  that  the  atmosphere  of  the  place 
(stripped  as  it  was  it  retained  its  heavy,  volup- 
tuous perfume)  had  begun  to  get  a  hold  upon 
him.  He  was  anxious  to  shake  it  off;  to  be  up 
and  doing. 

He  pulled  the  curtain  aside  and  stepped  into 
the  room.  Smith  and  I  perforce  followed  him. 
Just  within  the  door  the  three  of  us  stood  look- 
ing across  at  the  limp  thing  which  had  spread 
terror  throughout  the  Eastern  and  Western 
world.  Helpless  as  Fu-Manchu  was,  he  inspired 
terror  now,  though  the  giant  intellect  was  inert 
—  stupefied. 

In  the  dimly  lit  apartment  we  had  quitted  I 
heard  Karamaneh  utter  a  stifled  scream.  But 
it  came  too  late. 

As  though  cast  up  by  a  volcano,  the  silken 
cushions,  the  inlaid  table  with  its  blue-shaded 
Umo,  the  garish  walls,  the  sprawling  figure  with 


322      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

the  ghastly  light  playing  upon  its  features — • 
quivered,  and  shot  upward! 

So  it  seemed  to  me;  though,  in  the  ensuing 
instant  I  remembered,  too  late,  a  previous  ex- 
perience of  the  floors  of  Fu-Manchu's  private 
apartments;  I  knew  what  had  indeed  befallen 
us.     A  trap  had  been  released  beneath  our  feet. 

I  recall  falling  —  but  have  no  recollection  of 
the  end  of  my  fall  —  of  the  shock  marking  the 
drop.  I  only  remember  fighting  for  my  life 
against  a  stifling  something  which  had  me  by  the 
throat.  I  knew  that  I  was  being  suffocated,  but 
my  hands  met  only  the  deathly  emptiness. 

Into  a  poisonous  well  of  darkness  I  sank.  I 
could  not  cry  out.  I  was  helpless.  Of  the  fate 
of  my  companions  I  knew  nothing  —  could  sur- 
mise nothing. 

Then  ...   all  consciousness  ended. 


Chapter  XXV 

I  WAS  being  carried  along  a  dimly  lighted, 
tunnel-like  place,  slung,  sackwise,  across  the 
shoulder  of  a  Burman.  He  was  not  a  big 
man,  but  he  supported  my  considerable  weight 
with  apparent  ease.  A  deadly  nausea  held  me, 
but  the  rough  handling  had  served  to  restore  me 
to  consciousness.  My  hands  and  feet  were 
closely  lashed.  I  hung  limply  as  a  wet  towel: 
I  felt  that  this  spark  of  tortured  life  which  had 
flickered  up  in  me  must  ere  long  finally  become 
extinguished. 

A  fancy  possessed  me,  in  these  the  first  mo- 
ments of  my  restoration  to  the  world  of  realities, 
that  I  had  been  smuggled  into  China;  and  as  I 
swung  head  downward  I  told  myself  that  the 
huge,  puffy  things  which  strewed  the  path  were 
a  species  of  giant  toadstool,  unfamiliar  to  me 
and  possibly  peculiar  to  whatever  district  of 
China  I  now  was  in. 

The  air  was  hot,  steamy,  and  loaded  with  a 
smell  as  of  rotting  vegetation.  I  wondered  why 
my  bearer  so  scrupulously  avoided  touching  any 

323 


324      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

of  the  unwholesome-looking  growths  in  passing- 
through  what  seemed  a  succession  of  cellars,  but 
steered  a  tortuous  course  among  the  bloated,  un- 
natural shapes,  lifting  his  bare  brown  feet  with 
a  catlike  delicacy. 

He  passed  under  a  low  arch,  dropped  me 
roughly  to  the  ground  and  ran  back.  Half 
stunned,  I  lay  watching  the  agile  brown  body 
melt  into  the  distances  of  the  cellars.  Their 
walls  and  roof  seemed  to  emit  a  faint,  phos- 
phorescent light. 

"  Petrie !  n  came  a  weak  voice  from  somewhere 
ahead.  .  .  .  "  Is  that  you,  Petrie?" 

It  was  Nayland  Smith! 

"Smith!"  I  said,  and  strove  to  sit  up.  But 
the  intense  nausea  overcame  me,  so  that  I  all 
but  swooned. 

I  heard  his  voice  again,  but  could  attach  no 
meaning  to  the  words  which  he  uttered.  A  sound 
of  terrific  blows  reached  my  ears,  too. 

The  Burman  reappeared,  bending  under  the 
heavy  load  which  he  bore.  For,  as  he  picked  his 
way  through  the  bloated  things  which  grew  upon 
the  floors  of  the  cellars,  I  realized  that  he  was 
carrying  the  inert  body  of  Inspector  Weymouth. 
And  I  found  time  to  compare  the  strength  of  the 
little  brown  man  with  that  of  a  Nile  beetle,  which 
can  raise  many  times  its  own  weight. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      325 

Then,  behind  him,  appeared  a  second  figure, 
which  immediately  claimed  the  whole  of  my  er- 
rant attention. 

"  Fu-Manchu !  "  hissed  my  friend,  from  the 
darkness  which  concealed  him. 

It  was  indeed  none  other  than  Fu-Manchu  — 
the  Fu-Manchu  whom  we  had  thought  to  be 
helpless.  The  deeps  of  the  Chinaman's  cunning 
—  the  fine  quality  of  his  courage,  were  forced 
upon  me  as  amazing  facts. 

He  had  assumed  the  appearance  of  a  drugged 
opium-smoker  so  well  as  to  dupe  me  —  a  medical 
man ;  so  well  as  to  dupe  Karamaneh  —  whose 
experience  of  the  noxious  habit  probably  was 
greater  than  my  own.  And,  with  the  gallows 
dangling  before  him,  he  had  waited  —  played  the 
part  of  a  lure  —  whilst  a  body  of  police  actually 
surrounded  the  place! 

I  have  since  thought  that  the  room  probably 
was  one  which  he  actually  used  for  opium  de- 
bauches, and  the  device  of  the  trap  was  intended 
to  protect  him  during  the  comatose  period. 

Now,  holding  a  lantern  above  his  head,  the 
deviser  of  the  trap  whereinto  we,  mouselike,  had 
blindly  entered,  came  through  the  cellars,  fol- 
lowing the  brown  man  who  carried  Weymouth. 
The  faint  rays  of  the  lantern  (it  apparently  con- 
tained a  candle)   revealed  a  veritable  forest  of 


326      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

the  gigantic  fungi  —  poisonously  colored  —  hide« 
ously  swollen  —  climbing  from  the  floor  up  the 
slimy  walls  —  clinging  like  horrid  parasites  to 
such  part  of  the  arched  roof  as  was  visible  to  me. 

Fu-Manchu  picked  his  way  through  the  fungi 
ranks  as  daintily  as  though  the  distorted,  tumid 
things  had  been  viper-headed. 

The  resounding  blows  which  I  had  noted  be- 
fore, and  which  had  never  ceased,  culminated  in 
a  splintering  crash.  Dr.  Fu-Manchu  and  his 
servant,  who  carried  the  apparently  insensible 
detective,  passed  in  under  the  arch,  Fu-Manchu 
glancing  back  once  along  the  passages.  The 
lantern  he  extinguished,  or  concealed;  and 
whilst  I  waited,  my  mind  dully  surveying  mem- 
ories of  all  the  threats  which  this  uncanny  being 
had  uttered,  a  distant  clamor  came  to  my  ears. 

Then,  abruptly,  it  ceased.  Dr.  Fu-Manchu 
had  closed  a  heavy  door;  and  to  my  surprise  I 
perceived  that  the  greater  part  of  it  was  of  glass. 
The  will-o'-the-wisp  glow  which  played  around 
the  fungi  rendered  the  vista  of  the  cellars  faintly 
luminous,  and  visible  to  me  from  where  I  lay. 
Fu-Manchu  spoke  softly.  His  voice,  its  guttural 
I  note  alternating  with  a  sibilance  on  certain 
words,  betrayed  no  traces  of  agitation.  The 
man's  unbroken  calm  had  in  it  something  in- 
human.    For  he  had  just  perpetrated  an  act  of 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      327 

daring  unparalleled  in  my  experience,  and,  in  the 
clamor  now  shut  out  by  the  glass  door  I  tardily 
recognized  the  entrance  of  the  police  into  some 
barricaded  part  of  the  house  —  the  coming  of 
those  who  would  save  us  —  who  would  hold  the 
Chinese  doctor  for  the  hangman! 

"  I  have  decided/'  he  said  deliberately,  "  that 
you  are  more  worthy  of  my  attention  than  I  had 
formerly  supposed.  A  man  who  can  solve  the 
secret  of  the  Golden  Elixir  "  ( I  had  not  solved  it ; 
I  had  merely  stolen  some)  "  should  be  a  valuable 
acquisition  to  my  Council.  The  extent  of  the 
plans  of  Mr.  Commissioner  IN  ay  land  Smith  and 
of  the  English  Scotland  Yard  it  is  incumbent 
upon  me  to  learn.  Therefore,  gentlemen,  you 
live  —  for  the  present !  " 

"  And  you'll  swing,"  came  Weymouth's  hoarse 
voice,  "in  the  near  future!  You  and  all  your 
yellow  gang !  " 

"  I  trust  not,"  was  the  placid  reply.  "  Most 
of  my  people  are  safe:  some  are  shipped  as  las- 
cars  upon  the  liners;  others  have  departed  by 
different  means.     Ah !  " 

That  last  word  was  the  only  one  indicative  of 
excitement  which  had  yet  escaped  him.  A  disk 
of  light  danced  among  the  brilliant  poison  hues 
of  the  passages  —  but  no  sound  reached  us ;  by 
which  I  knew  that  the  glass  door  must  fit  almost 


328      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

hermetically.  It  was  much  cooler  here  than  in 
the  place  through  which  we  had  passed,  and  the 
nausea  began  to  leave  me,  my  brain  to  grow  more 
clear.  Had  I  known  what  was  to  follow  I  should 
have  cursed  the  lucidity  of  mind  which  now  came 
to  me ;  I  should  have  prayed  for  oblivion  —  to 
be  spared  the  sight  of  that  which  ensued. 

"  It's  Logan !  "  cried  Inspector  Weymouth ; 
and  I  could  tell  that  he  was  struggling  to  free 
himself  of  his  bonds.  From  his  voice  it  was  evi- 
dent that  he,  too,  was  recovering  from  the  effects 
of  the  narcotic  which  had  been  administered  to 
us  all. 

"  Logan !  "  he  cried.  "  Logan !  This  way  — 
help!" 

But  the  cry  beat  back  upon  us  in  that  enclosed 
space  and  seemed  to  carry  no  farther  than  the 
invisible  walls  of  our  prison. 

"  The  door  fits  well,"  came  Fu-Manchu's  mock- 
ing voice.  "  It  is  fortunate  for  us  all  that  it  is 
so.  This  is  my  observation  window,  Dr.  Petrie, 
and  you  are  about  to  enjoy  an  unique  opportunity 
of  studying  fungology.  I  have  already  drawn 
your  attention  to  the  anaesthetic  properties  of 
the  lycoperdon,  or  common  puff-ball.  You  may 
have  recognized  the  fumes?  The  chamber  into 
which  you  rashly  precipitated  yourselves  was 
charged  with  them.     By  a  process  of  my  own  I 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHTJ      329 

have  greatly  enhanced  the  value  of  the  puff-ball 
in  this  respect.  Your  friend,  Mr.  Weymouth, 
proved  the  most  obstinate  subject;  but  he  suc- 
cumbed in  fifteen  seconds." 

"Logan!     Help!     Help!     This  way,  man ! " 

Something  very  like  fear  sounded  in  Wey- 
mouth's voice  now.  Indeed,  the  situation  was 
so  uncanny  that  it  almost  seemed  unreal.  A 
group  of  men  had  entered  the  farthermost  cel- 
lars, led  by  one  who  bore  an  electric  pocket-lamp. 
The  hard,  white  ray  danced  from  bloated  gray 
fungi  to  others  of  nightmare  shape,  of  dazzling, 
venomous  brilliance.  The  mocking,  lecture-room 
voice  continued: 

"Note  the  snowy  growth  upon  the  roof,  Doc- 
tor. Do  not  be  deceived  by  its  size.  It  is  a 
giant  variety  of  my  own  culture  and  is  of  the 
order  empusa.  You,  in  England,  are  familiar 
with  the  death  of  the  common  house-fly  —  which 
is  found  attached  to  the  window-pane  by  a  coat- 
ing of  white  mold.  I  have  developed  the  spores 
of  this  mold  and  have  produced  a  giant  species. 
Observe  the  interesting  effect  of  the  strong  light 
upon  my  orange  and  blue  amanita  fungus ! " 

Hard  beside  me  I  heard  Nayland  Smith  groan, 
Weymouth  had  become  suddenly  silent.  For  my 
own  part,  I  could  have  shrieked  in  pure  horror. 
For  I  knew  what  toas  coming.     I  realized  in  one 


330      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

agonized  instant  the  significance  of  the  dim  lan- 
tern, of  the  careful  progress  through  the  subter- 
ranean fungi  grove,  of  the  care  with  which  Fu- 
Manchu  and  his  servant  had  avoided  touching 
any  of  the  growths.  I  knew,  now,  that  Dr.  Fu- 
Manchu  was  the  greatest  fungologist  the  world 
had  ever  known;  was  a  poisoner  to  whom  the 
Borgias  were  as  children  —  and  I  knew  that  the 
detectives  blindly  were  walking  into  a  valley  of 
death. 

Then  it  began  —  the  unnatural  scene  —  the 
saturnalia  of  murder. 

Like  so  many  bombs  the  brilliantly  colored 
caps  of  the  huge  toadstool-like  things  alluded  to 
by  the  Chinaman  exploded,  as  the  white  ray 
sought  them  out  in  the  darkness  which  alone 
preserved  their  existence.  A  brownish  cloud  — 
I  could  not  determine  whether  liquid  or  powdery 
—  arose  in  the  cellar. 

I  tried  to  close  my  eyes  —  or  to  turn  them 
away  from  the  reeling  forms  of  the  men  who 
were  trapped  in  that  poison-hole.  It  was  useless : 
I  must  look. 

The  bearer  of  the  lamp  had  dropped  it,  but 
the  dim,  eerily  illuminated  gloom  endured  scarce 
a  second.  A  bright  light  sprang  up  —  doubtless 
at  the  touch  of  the  fiendish  being  who  now  re- 
sumed speech: 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      331 

"  Observe  the  symptoms  of  delirium,  Doctor !  » 

^  Out  there,  beyond  the  glass  door,  the  unhappy 
victims  were  laughing  —  tearing  their  garments 
from  their  bodies  —  leaping  —  waving  their  arms 
—  were  become  maniacs! 

"  We  will  now  release  the  ripe  spores  of  giant 
empusa,"  continued  the  wicked  voice.  "  The  air 
of  the  second  cellar  being  super-charged  with 
oxygen,  they  immediately  germinate.  Ah!  it  is 
a  triumph!  That  process  is  the  scientific  tri- 
umph of  my  life !  " 

Like  powdered  snow  the  white  spores  fell  from 
the  roof,  frosting  the  writhing  shapes  of  the  al- 
ready poisoned  men.  Before  my  horrified  gaze, 
the  fungus  grew;  it  spread  from  the  head  to  the 
feet  of  those  it  touched ;  it  enveloped  them  as  in 
glittering  shrouds.  .  .  . 

"They  die  like  flies!"  screamed  Fu-Manchu, 
with  a  sudden  febrile  excitement;  and  I  felt  as- 
sured of  something  I  had  long  suspected:  that 
that  magnificent,  perverted  brain  was  the  brain 
of  a  homicidal  maniac  —  though  Smith  would 
never  accept  the  theory. 

"It  is  my  fly-trap!"  shrieked  the  Chinaman. 
"  And  I  am  the  god  of  destruction !  " 


Chapter  XXVI 

THE  clammy  touch  of  the  mist  revived  me. 
The  culmination  of  the  scene  in  the  poison 
cellars,  together  with  the  effects  of  the 
fumes  which  I  had  inhaled  again,  had  deprived 
me  of  consciousness.  Now  I  knew  that  I  was 
afloat  on  the  river.  I  still  was  bound:  further- 
more, a  cloth  was  wrapped  tightly  about  my 
mouth,  and  I  was  secured  to  a  ring  in  the  deck. 

By  moving  my  aching  head  to  the  left  I  could 
look  down  into  the  oily  water;  by  moving  it  to 
the  right  I  could  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  em- 
purpled face  of  Inspector  Weymouth,  who, 
similarly  bound  and  gagged,  lay  beside  me,  but 
only  of  the  feet  and  legs  of  Nayland  Smith.  For 
I  could  not  turn  my  head  sufficiently  far  to  see 
more. 

We  were  aboard  an  electric  launch.  I  heard 
the  hated  guttural  voice  of  Fu-Manchu,  subdued 
now  to  its  habitual  calm,  and  my  heart  leaped  to 
hear  the  voice  that  answered  him.  It  was  that 
of    Karamaneh.     His    triumph    was    complete. 

332 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      333 

Clearly  his  plans  for  departure  were  complete; 
his  slaughter  of  the  police  in  the  underground 
passages  had  been  a  final  reckless  demonstration 
of  which  the  Chinaman's  subtle  cunning  would 
have  been  incapable  had  he  not  known  his  escape 
from  the  country  to  be  assured. 

What  fate  was  in  store  for  us?  How  would 
he  avenge  himself  upon  the  girl  who  had  be- 
trayed him  to  his  enemies?  What  portion 
awaited  those  enemies?  He  seemed  to  have 
formed  tbe  singular  determination  to  smuggle  me 
into  China  —  but  what  did  he  purpose  in  the 
case  of  WTeymouth?  and  in  the  case  of  Nayland 
Smith? 

All  but  silently  we  were  feeling  our  way 
through  the  mist.  Astern  died  the  clangor  of 
dock  and  wharf  into  a  remote  discord.  Ahead 
hung  the  foggy  curtain  veiling  the  traffic  of  the 
great  waterway ;  but  through  it  broke  the  calling 
of  sirens,  the  tinkling  of  bells. 

The  gentle  movement  of  the  screw  ceased  alto- 
gether. The  launch  lay  heaving  slightly  upon 
the  swells. 

A  distant  throbbing  grew  louder  —  and  some- 
thing advanced  upon  us  through  the  haze. 

A  bell  rang  and  muffled  by  the  fog  a  voice 
proclaimed  itself  —  a  voice  which  I  knew.  I  felt 
Weymouth  writhing  impotently  beside  me ;  heard 


334      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

him  mumbling  incoherently ;  and  I  knew  that  he, 
too,  had  recognized  the  voice. 

It  was  that  of  Inspector  Ryman  of  the  river 
police ;  and  their  launch  was  within  biscuit-throw 
of  that  upon  which  we  lay! 

"'Hoy!     'Hoy!" 

I  trembled.  A  feverish  excitement  claimed 
me.  They  were  hailing  us.  We  carried  no 
lights;  but  now  —  and  ignoring  the  pain  which 
shot  from  my  spine  to  my  skull  I  craned  my  neck 
to  the  left  —  the  port  light  of  the  police  launch 
glowed  angrily  through  the  mist. 

I  was  unable  to  utter  any  save  mumbling 
sounds,  and  my  companions  were  equally  help- 
less. It  was  a  desperate  position.  Had  the  po- 
lice seen  us  or  had  they  hailed  at  random? 

The  light  drew  nearer. 

"  Launch,  'hoy !  " 

They  had  seen  us !  Fu-Manchu's  guttural  voice 
spoke  shortly  —  and  our  screw  began  to  revolve 
again;  we  leaped  ahead  into  the  bank  of  dark- 
ness. Faint  grew  the  light  of  the  police  launch 
—  and  was  gone.  But  I  heard  Ryman's  voice 
shouting. 

u  Full  speed !  "  came  faintly  through  the  dark- 
ness.    "  Port !     Port !  " 

Then  the  murk  closed  down,  and  with  our 
friends  far  astern  of  us  we  were  racing  deeper 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      335 

into  the  fog  banks  —  speeding  seaward;  though 
of  this  I  was  unable  to  judge  at  the  time. 

On  we  raced,  and  on,  sweeping  over  growing 
swells.  Once,  a  black,  towering  shape  dropped 
down  upon  us.  Far  above,  lights  blazed,  bells 
rang,  vague  cries  pierced  the  fog.  The  launch 
pitched  and  rolled  perilously,  but  weathered  the 
wash  of  the  liner  which  so  nearly  had  concluded 
this  episode.  It  was  such  a  journey  as  I  had 
taken  once  before,  early  in  our  pursuit  of  the 
genius  of  the  Yellow  Peril;  but  this  was  in- 
finitely more  terrible;  for  now  we  were  utterly 
in  Fu-Manchu's  power. 

A  voice  mumbled  in  my  ear.  I  turned  my 
bound-up  face;  and  Inspector  Weymouth  raised 
his  hands  in  the  dimness  and  partly  slipped  the 
bandage  from  his  mouth. 

"  I've  been  working  at  the  cords  since  we  left 
those  filthy  cellars,"  he  whispered.  "  My  wrists 
are  all  cut,  but  when  I've  got  out  a  knife  and 
freed  my  ankles — " 

Smith  had  kicked  him  with  his  bound  feet. 
The  detective  slipped  the  bandage  back  to  posi- 
tion and  placed  his  hands  behind  him  again. 
Dr.  Fu-Manchu,  wearing  a  heavy  overcoat  but 
no  hat,  came  aft.  He  was  dragging  Karamaneh 
by  the  wrists.  He  seated  himself  on  the  cushions 
near  to  us,  pulling  the  girl  down  beside  him. 


336      THE  INSIDIOUS  DB.  FU-MANCHU 

Now,  I  could  see  her  face  —  and  the  expression 
in  her  beautiful  eyes  made  me  writhe. 

Fu-Manchu  was  watching  us,  his  discolored 
teeth  faintly  visible  in  the  dim  light,  to  which 
my  eyes  were  becoming  accustomed. 

"  Dr.  Petrie,"  he  said,  "  you  shall  be  my  hon- 
ored guest  at  my  home  in  China.  You  shall 
assist  me  to  revolutionize  chemistry.  Mr.  Smith, 
I  fear  you  know  more  of  my  plans  than  I  had 
deemed  it  possible  for  you  to  have  learned,  and 
I  am  anxious  to  know  if  you  have  a  confidant. 
Where  your  memory  fails  you,  and  my  files  and 
wire  jackets  prove  ineffectual,  Inspector  Wey- 
mouth's recollections  may  prove  more  accurate." 

He  turned  to  the  cowering  girl  —  who  shrank 
away  from  him  in  pitiful,  abject  terror. 

"  In  my  hands,  Doctor,"  he  continued,  "  I  hold 
a  needle  charged  with  a  rare  culture.  It  is  the 
link  between  the  bacilli  and  the  fungi.  You  have 
seemed  to  display  an  undue  interest  in  the  peach 
and  pearl  which  render  my  Karamaneh  so  de- 
lightful, in  the  supple  grace  of  her  movements 
and  the  sparkle  of  her  eyes.  You  can  never  de- 
vote your  whole  mind  to  those  studies  which  I 
have  planned  for  you  whilst  such  distractions 
exist.  A  touch  of  this  keen  point,  and  the  laugh- 
ing Karamaneh  becomes  the  shrieking  hag  —  the 
maniacal,  mowing — " 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      337 

Then,  with  an  ox-like  rush,  Weymouth  was 
upon  him! 

Karamaneh,  wrought  upon  past  endurance, 
with  a  sobbing  cry,  sank  to  the  deck  —  and  lay 
still.  I  managed  to  writhe  into  a  half-sitting 
posture,  and  Smith  rolled  aside  as  the  detective 
and  the  Chinaman  crashed  down  together. 

Weymouth  had  one  big  hand  at  the  Doctor's 
yellow  throat ;  with  his  left  he  grasped  the  China- 
man's right.     It  held  the  needle. 

Now,  I  could  look  along  the  length  of  the  little 
craft,  and,  so  far  as  it  was  possible  to  make  out 
in  the  fog,  only  one  other  was  aboard  —  the 
half-clad  brown  man  who  navigated  her  —  and 
who  had  carried  us  through  the  cellars.  The 
murk  had  grown  denser  and  now  shut  us  in  like 
a  box.  The  throb  of  the  motor  —  the  hissing 
breath  of  the  two  who  fought  —  with  so  much 
at  issue  —  these  sounds  and  the  wash  of  the 
water  alone  broke  the  eerie  stillness. 

By  slow  degrees,  and  with  a  reptilian  agility 
horrible  to  watch,  Fu-Manchu  was  neutralizing 
the  advantage  gained  by  Weymouth.  His  claw- 
ish  fingers  were  fast  in  the  big  man's  throat; 
the  right  hand  with  its  deadly  needle  was  forcing 
down  the  left  of  his  opponent.  He  had  been 
underneath,  but  now  he  was  gaining  the  upper 
place.     His  powers  of  physical  endurance  must 


338      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

have  been  truly  marvelous.  His  breath  was 
whistling  through  his  nostrils  significantly,  but 
Weymouth  was  palpably  tiring. 

The  latter  suddenly  changed  his  tactics.  By  a 
supreme  effort,  to  which  he  was  spurred,  I  think, 
by  the  growing  proximity  of  the  needle,  he  raised 
Fu-Manchu  —  by  the  throat  and  arm  —  and 
pitched  him  sideways. 

The  Chinaman's  grip  did  not  relax,  and  the 
two  wrestlers  dropped,  a  writhing  mass,  upon 
the  port  cushions.  The  launch  heeled  over,  and 
my  cry  of  horror  was  crushed  back  into  my  throat 
by  the  bandage.  For,  as  Fu-Manchu  sought  to 
extricate  himself,  he  overbalanced  —  fell  back 
—  and,  bearing  Weymouth  with  him  —  slid  into 
the  river! 

The  mist  swallowed  them  up. 

There  are  moments  of  which  no  man  can  recall 
his  mental  impressions,  moments  so  acutely  hor- 
rible that,  mercifully,  our  memory  retains  noth- 
ing of  the  emotions  they  occasioned.  This  was 
one  of  them.  A  chaos  ruled  in  my  mind.  I  had 
a  vague  belief  that  the  Burman,  forward,  glanced 
back.  Then  the  course  of  the  launch  was 
changed. 

How  long  intervened  between  the  tragic  end 
o£  that  Gargantuan  struggle  and  the  time  when 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      339 

a  black  wall  leaped  suddenly  up  before  us  I  can- 
not pretend  to  state. 

With  a  sickening  jerk  we  ran  aground.  A  loud 
explosion  ensued,  and  I  clearly  remember  seeing 
the  brown  man  leap  out  into  the  fog  —  which 
was  the  last  I  saw  of  him. 

Water  began  to  wash  aboard. 

Fully  alive  to  our  imminent  peril,  I  fought  with 
the  cords  that  bound  me ;  but  I  lacked  poor  Wey- 
mouth's strength  of  wrist,  and  I  began  to  accept 
as  a  horrible  and  imminent  possibility,  a  death 
from  drowning,  within  six  feet  of  the  bank. 

Beside  me,  Nayland  Smith  was  straining  and 
twisting.  I  think  his  object  was  to  touch  Kara- 
maneh,  in  the  hope  of  arousing  her.  Where  he 
failed  in  his  project,  the  inflowing  water  suc- 
ceeded. A  silent  prayer  of  thankfulness  came 
from  my  very  soul  when  I  saw  her  stir  —  when 
I  saw  her  raise  her  hands  to  her  head  —  and 
saw  the  big,  horror-bright  eyes  gleam  through 
the  mist  veil. 


Chapter  XXVII 

WE  quitted  the  wrecked  launch  but  a  few 
seconds  before  her  stern  settled  down 
into  the  river.  Where  the  mud-bank 
upon  which  we  found  ourselves  was  situated  we 
had  no  idea.  But  at  least  it  was  terra  firma  — 
and  we  were  free  from  Dr.  Fu-Manchu. 

Smith  stood  looking  out  towards  the  river. 

"  My  God !  "  he  groaned.     "  My  God !  " 

He  was  thinking,  as  I  was,  of  Weymouth. 

And  when,  an  hour  later,  the  police  boat  lo- 
cated us  (on  the  mud-flats  below  Greenwich)1 
and  we  heard  that  the  toll  of  the  poison  cellars 
was  eight  men,  we  also  heard  news  of  our  brave 
companion. 

"  Back  there  in  the  fog,  sir,"  reported  In- 
spector Ryman,  who  was  in  charge,  and  his  voice 
was  under  poor  command,  "  there  was  an  un- 
canny howling,  and  peals  of  laughter  that  I'm 
going  to  dream  about  for  weeks  — " 

Karamaneh,  who  nestled  beside  me  like  a 
frightened  child,  shivered;  and  I  knew  that  the 
needle  had  done  its  work,  despite  Weymouth's 
giant  strength. 

340 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      341 

Smith  swallowed  noisily. 

"  Pray  God  the  river  has  that  yellow  Satan," 
he  said.  "  I  would  sacrifice  a  year  of  my  life  to 
see  his  rat's  body  on  the  end  of  a  grappling- 
iron  ! " 

We  were  a  sad  party  that  steamed  through 
the  fog  homeward  that  night.  It  seemed  almost 
like  deserting  a  staunch  comrade  to  leave  the 
Sp0t  —  so  nearly  as  we  could  locate  it  —  where 
Weymouth  had  put  up  that  last  gallant  fight. 
Our  helplessness  was  pathetic,  and  although,  had 
the  night  been  clear  as  crystal,  I  doubt  if  we 
could  have  acted  otherwise,  it  came  to  me  that 
this  stinking  murk  was  a  new  enemy  which  drove 
us  back  in  coward  retreat. 

But  so  many  were  the  calls  upon  our  activity, 
and  so  numerous  the  stimulants  to  our  initiative 
in  those  times,  that  soon  we  had  matter  to  relieve 
our  minds  from  this  stress  of  sorrow. 

There  was  Karamaneh  to  be  considered  — 
Karamaneh  and  her  brother.  A  brief  counsel 
was  held,  whereat  it  was  decided  that  for  the 
present  they  should  be  lodged  at  a  hotel. 

"  I  shall  arrange,"  Smith  whispered  to  me,  for 
the  girl  was  watching  us,  "to  have  the  place 
patrolled  night  and  day." 
"You  cannot  suppose — " 
"  Petrie !     I  cannot  and  dare  not  suppose  Fu- 


342      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

Manchu  dead  until  with  my  own  eyes  I  have 
seen  him  so !  " 

Accordingly  we  conveyed  the  beautiful  Ori- 
ental girl  and  her  brother  away  from  that  lux- 
urious abode  in  its  sordid  setting.  I  will  not 
dwell  upon  the  final  scene  in  the  poison  cellars 
lest  I  be  accused  of  accumulating  horror  for  hor- 
ror's sake.  Members  of  the  fire  brigade,  helmed 
against  contagion,  brought  out  the  bodies  of  the 
victims  wrapped  in  their  living  shrouds.  .  .  . 

From  Karamaneh  we  learned  much  of  Fu-Man- 
chu,  little  of  herself. 

"What  am  I?  Does  my  poor  history  matter 
—  to  anyone?"  was  her  answer  to  questions 
respecting  herself. 

And  she  would  droop  her  lashes  over  her  dark 
eyes. 

The  dacoits  whom  the  Chinaman  had  brought 
to  England  originally  numbered  seven,  we 
learned.  As  you,  having  followed  me  thus  far, 
will  be  aware,  we  had  thinned  the  ranks  of  the 
Burmans.  Probably  only  one  now  remained  in 
England.  They  had  lived  in  a  camp  in  the 
grounds  of  the  house  near  Windsor  (which,  as 
we  had  learned  at  the  time  of  its  destruction, 
the  Doctor  had  bought  outright).  The  Thames 
had  been  his  highway. 

Other  members   of  the   group   had  occupied 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      343 

quarters  in  various  parts  of  the  East  End,  where 
sailormen  of  all  nationalities  congregate.  Shen- 
Yan-s  had  been  the  East  End  headquarters.  He 
had  employed  the  hulk  from  the  time  of  his  ar- 
rival, as  a  laboratory  for  a  certain  class  of  ex- 
periments undesirable  in  proximity  to  a  place  of 
residence. 

Nayland  Smith  asked  the  girl  on  one  occasion 
if  the  Chinaman  had  had  a  private  sea-going 
vessel,  and  she  replied  in  the  affirmative.  She 
had  never  been  on  board,  however,  had  never 
even  set  eyes  upon  it,  and  could  give  us  no  in- 
formation respecting  its  character.  It  had 
sailed  for  China. 

"  You  are  sure,"  asked  Smith  keenly,  "  that  it 
has  actually  left?  " 

"  I  understood  so,  and  that  we  were  to  follow 
by  another  route." 

"  It  would  have  been  difficult  for  Fu-Manchu 
to  travel  by  a  passenger  boat?  " 

"  I  cannot  say  what  were  his  plans." 

In  a  state  of  singular  uncertainty,  then,  readily 
to  be  understood,  we  passed  the  days  following 
the  tragedy  which  had  deprived  us  of  our  fel- 
low-worker. 

Vividly  I  recall  the  scene  at  poor  Weymouth's 
home,  on  the  day  that  we  visited  it.  I  then  made 
the   acquaintance    of   the    Inspector's    brother. 


344      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

Nayland  Smith  gave  him  a  detailed  account  of 
the  last  scene. 

"  Out  there  in  the  mist/'  he  concluded 
wearily,  "  it  all  seemed  very  unreal." 

"  I  wish  to  God  it  had  been ! " 

"  Amen  to  that,  Mr.  Weymouth.  But  your 
brother  made  a  gallant  finish.  If  ridding  the 
world  of  Fu-Manchu  were  the  only  good  deed  to 
his  credit,  his  life  had  been  well  spent." 

James  Weymouth  smoked  awhile  in  thought- 
ful silence.  Though  but  four  and  a  half  miles 
S.S.E.  of  St.  Paul's  the  quaint  little  cottage, 
with  its  rustic  garden,  shadowed  by  the  tall  trees 
which  had  so  lined  the  village  street  before  motor 
'buses  were,  was  a  spot  as  peaceful  and  secluded 
as  any  in  broad  England.  But  another  shadow 
lay  upon  it  to-day  —  chilling,  fearful.  An  in- 
carnate evil  had  come  out  of  the  dim  East  and 
in  its  dying  malevolence  had  touched  this  home. 

"  There  are  two  things  I  don't  understand 
about  it,  sir,"  continued  Weymouth.  "What 
was  the  meaning  of  the  horrible  laughter  which 
the  river  police  heard  in  the  fog?  And  where 
are  the  bodies?  " 

Karamaneh,  seated  beside  me,  shuddered  at  the 
words.  Smith,  whose  restless  spirit  granted  him 
little  repose,  paused  in  his  aimless  wanderings 
about  the  room  and  looked  at  her. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      345 

In  these  latter  days  of  his  Augean  labors  to 
purge  England  of  the  unclean  thing  which  had 
fastened  upon  her,  my  friend  was  more  lean  and 
nervous-looking  than  I  had  ever  known  him.  His 
long  residence  in  Burma  had  rendered  him  spare 
and  had  burned  his  naturally  dark  skin  to  a  cop- 
pery hue;  but  now  his  gray  eyes  had  grown  fev- 
erishly bright  and  his  face  so  lean  as  at  times  to 
appear  positively  emaciated.  But  I  knew  that 
he  was  as  fit  as  ever. 

"  This  lady  may  be  able  to  answer  your  first 
question/'  he  said.  "  She  and  her  brother  were 
for  some  time  in  the  household  of  Dr.  Fu-Man- 
chu.  In  fact,  Mr.  Weymouth,  Karamaneh,  as  her 
name  implies,  was  a  slave." 

Weymouth  glanced  at  the  beautiful,  troubled 
face  with  scarcely  veiled  distrust. 

"  You  don't  look  as  though  you  had  come  from 
China,  miss,"  he  said,  with  a  sort  of  unwilling 
admiration. 

"  I  do  not  come  from  China,"  replied  Kara- 
maneh. "  My  father  was  a  pure  Bedawee.  But 
my  history  does  not  matter."  (At  times  there 
was  something  imperious  in  her  manner ;  and  to 
this  her  musical  accent  added  force.)  "When 
your  brave  brother,  Inspector  Weymouth,  and 
Dr.  Fu-Manchu,  were  swallowed  up  by  the  river, 
Fu-Manchu  held  a  poisoned  needle  in  his  band. 


346      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

The  laughter  meant  that  the  needle  had  done  its 
work.     Your  brother  had  become  mad !  " 

Weymouth  turned  aside  to  hide  his  emotion. 

"  What  was  on  the  needle?  "  he  asked  huskily. 

"  It  was  something  which  he  prepared  from 
the  venom  of  a  kind  of  swamp  adder,"  she  an- 
swered. "  It  produces  madness,  but  not  always 
death." 

"  He  would  have  had  a  poor  chance,"  said 
Smith,  "  even  had  he  been  in  complete  possession 
of  his  senses.  At  the  time  of  the  encounter  we 
must  have  been  some  considerable  distance  from 
shore,  and  the  fog  was  impenetrable." 

"  But  how  do  you  account  for  the  fact  that 
neither  of  the  bodies  have  been  recovered?  " 

"  Ryman  of  the  river  police  tells  me  that  per- 
sons lost  at  that  point  are  not  always  recovered 
' —  or  not  until  a  considerable  time  later." 

There  was  a  faint  sound  from  the  room  above. 
The  news  of  that  tragic  happening  out  in  the 
mist  upon  the  Thames  had  prostrated  poor  Mrs. 
Weymouth. 

"  She  hasn't  been  told  half  the  truth,"  said  her 
brother-in-law.  "  She  doesn't  know  about  —  the 
poisoned  needle.  What  kind  of  fiend  was  this 
Dr.  Fu-Manchu?"  He  burst  out  into  a  sudden 
blaze  of  furious  resentment.  "  John  never  told 
me  much,  and  you  have  let  mighty  little  leak 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      347 

into  the  papers.     What  was  he?    Who  was  he?  " 

Half  he  addressed  the  words  to  Smith,  half  to 
Karamaneh. 

"  Dr.  Fu-Manchu,"  replied  the  former,  "  was 
the  ultimate  expression  of  Chinese  cunning;  a 
phenomenon  such  as  occurs  but  once  in  many 
generations.  He  was  a  superman  of  incredible 
genius,  who,  had  he  willed,  could  have  revolu- 
tionized science.  There  is  a  superstition  in 
some  parts  of  China  according  to  which,  under 
certain  peculiar  conditions  (one  of  which  is 
proximity  to  a  deserted  burial-ground)  an  evil 
spirit  of  incredible  age  may  enter  into  the  body 
of  a  new-born  infant.  All  my  efforts  thus  far 
have  not  availed  me  to  trace  the  genealogy  of 
the  man  called  Dr.  Fu-Manchu.  Even  Kara- 
maneh cannot  help  me  in  this.  But  I  have  some- 
times thought  that  he  was  a  member  of  a  certain 
very  old  Kiangsu  family  —  and  that  the  peculiar 
conditions  I  have  mentioned  prevailed  at  his 
birth !  " 

Smith,  observing  our  looks  of  amazement, 
laughed  shortly,  and  quite  mirthlessly. 

"  Poor  old  Weymouth !  "  he  jerked.  "  I  sup- 
pose my  labors  are  finished;  but  I  am  far  from 
triumphant.  Is  there  any  improvement  in  Mrs. 
Weymouth's  condition?  " 

"  Very  little,"  was  the  reply ;  *  she  has  lain  in 


348      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

a  semi-conscious  state  since  the  news  came.  No 
one  had  any  idea  she  would  take  it  so.  At  one 
time  we  were  afraid  her  brain  was  going.  She 
seemed  to  have  delusions." 

Smith  spun  round  upon  Weymouth. 

li  Of  what  nature?  "  he  asked  rapidly. 

The  other  pulled  nervously  at  his  mustache. 

"  My  wife  has  been  staying  with  her,"  he  ex- 
plained, "  since  —  it  happened ;  and  for  the  last 
three  nights  poor  John's  widow  has  cried  out 
at  the  same  time  —  half-past  two  —  that  some- 
one was  knocking  on  the  door." 

"What  door?" 

"  That  door  yonder  —  the  street  door." 

All  our  eyes  turned  in  the  direction  indicated. 

"  John  often  came  home  at  half-past  two  from 
the  Yard,"  continued  Weymouth ;  "  so  we  natu- 
rally thought  poor  Mary  was  wandering  in  her 
mind.  But  last  night  —  and  it's  not  to  be  won- 
dered at  —  my  wife  couldn't  sleep,  and  she  was 
wide  awake  at  half -past  two." 

"Well?" 

Nayland  Smith  was  standing  before  him,  alert, 
bright-eyed. 

"  She  heard  it,  too !  " 

The  sun  was  streaming  into  the  cozy  little  sit- 
ting-room; but  I  will  confess  that  Weymouth's 
words  chilled  me  uncannily.     Karamaneh  laid 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      349 

her  hand  upon  mine,  in  a  quaint,  childish  fashion 
peculiarly  her  own.  Her  hand  was  cold,  but  its 
touch  thrilled  me.  For  Karamaneh  was  not  a 
wJiild,  but  a  rarely  beautiful  girl  —  a  pearl  of 
Jhe  East  such  as  many  a  monarch  has  fought  for. 

"  What  then?  "  asked  Smith. 

"  She  was  afraid  to  move  —  afraid  to  look 
from  the  window !  " 

My  friend  turned  and  stared  hard  at  me. 

"A  subjective  hallucination,  Petrie?" 

"  In  all  probability,"  I  replied.  "  You  should 
arrange  that  your  wife  be  relieved  in  her  trying 
duties,  Mr.  Weymouth.  Tt  is  too  great  a  strain 
for  an  inexperienced  nurse." 


Chapter  XXVIII 

OF  all  that  we  had  hoped  for  in  our  pursuit 
of  Fu-Manchu  how  little  had  we  accom- 
plished. Excepting  Karaman&h  and  her 
brother  (who  were  victims  and  not  creatures  of 
the  Chinese  doctor's)  not  one  of  the  formidable 
group  had  fallen  alive  into  our  hands.  Dread- 
ful crimes  had  marked  Fu-Manchu's  passage 
through  the  land.  Not  one-half  of  the  truth  (and 
nothing  of  the  later  developments)  had  been  made 
public.  Nayland  Smith's  authority  was  suffi- 
cient to  control  the  press. 

In  the  absence  of  such  a  veto  a  veritable  panic 
must  have  seized  upon  the  entire  country;  for  a 
monster  —  a  thing  more  than  humanly  evil  — 
existed  in  our  midst. 

Always  Fu-Manchu's  secret  activities  had 
centered  about  the  great  waterway.  There  was 
much  of  poetic  justice  in  his  end ;  for  the  Thames 
had  claimed  him,  who  so  long  had  used  the  stream 
as  a  highway  for  the  passage  to  and  fro  for  his 
secret  forces.  Gone  now  were  the  yellow  men 
who  had  been  the  instruments  of  his  evil  will; 

350 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANQHU      351 

gone  was  the  giant  intellect  which  had  con- 
trolled the  complex  murder  machine.  Kara- 
maneh, whose  beauty  he  had  used  as  a  lure,  at 
last  was  free,  and  no  more  with  her  smile  would 
tempt  men  to  death  —  that  her  brother  might 
live. 

Many  there  are,  I  doubt  not,  who  will  regard 
the  Eastern  girl  with  horror.  I  ask  their  for- 
giveness in  that  I  regarded  her  quite  differently. 
No  man  having  seen  her  could  have  condemned 
her  unheard.  Many,  having  looked  into  her 
lovely  eyes,  had  they  found  there  what  I  found, 
must  have  forgiven  her  almost  any  crime. 

That  she  valued  human  life  but  little  was  no 
matter  for  wonder.  Her  nationality  —  her  his- 
tory —  furnished  adequate  excuse  for  an  attitude 
not  condonable  in  a  European  equally  cultured. 

But  indeed  let  me  confess  that  hers  was  a 
nature  incomprehensible  to  me  in  some  respects. 
The  soul  of  Karamaneh  was  a  closed  book  to  my 
short-sighted  Western  eyes.  But  the  body  of 
Karamaneh  was  exquisite;  her  beauty  of  a  kind 
that  was  a  key  to  the  most  extravagant  rhapsodies 
of  Eastern  poets.  Her  eyes  held  a  challenge 
wholly  Oriental  in  its  appeal;  her  lips,  even  in 
repose,  were  a  taunt.  And,  herein,  East  is  West 
and  West  is  East. 

Finally,  despite  her  lurid  history,  despite  the 


352      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

scornful  self-possession  of  which  I  knew  her 
capable,  she  was  an  unprotected  girl  —  in  years, 
I  believe,  a  mere  child  —  whom  Fate  had  cast 
in  my  way.  At  her  request,  we  had  booked 
passages  for  her  brother  and  herself  to  Egypt. 
The  boat  sailed  in  three  days.  But  Karameneh's 
beautiful  eyes  were  sad;  often  I  detected  tears 
on  the  black  lashes.  Shall  I  endeavor  to  describe 
my  own  tumultuous,  conflicting  emotions?  It 
would  be  useless,  since  I  know  it  to  be  impossi- 
ble. For  in  those  dark  eyes  burned  a  fire  I 
might  not  see;  those  silken  lashes  veiled  a  mes- 
sage I  dared  not  read. 

Nayland  Smith  was  not  blind  to  the  facts  of 
the  complicated  situation.  I  can  truthfully  as- 
sert that  he  was  the  only  man  of  my  acquaintance 
who,  having  come  in  contact  with  Karamaneh, 
had  kept  his  head. 

We  endeavored  to  divert  her  mind  from  the 
recent  tragedies  by  a  round  of  amusements, 
though  with  poor  Weymouth's  body  still  at  the 
mercy  of  unknown  waters  Smith  and  I  made 
but  a  poor  show  of  gayety;  and  I  took  a  gloomy 
pride  in  the  admiration  which  our  lovely  com- 
panion everywhere  excited.  I  learned,  in  those 
days,  how  rare  a  thing  in  nature  is  a  really 
beautiful  woman. 

One  afternoon  we  found  ourselves  at  an  ex- 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      353 

hibition  of  water  colors  in  Bond  Street.  Kara- 
maneh  was  intensely  interested  in  the  subjects 
of  the  drawings  —  which  were  entirely  Egyptian. 
As  usual,  she  furnished  matter  for  comment 
amongst  the  other  visitors,  as  did  the  boy,  Aziz, 
her  brother,  anew  upon  the  world  from  his  living 
grave  in  the  house  of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu. 

Suddenly  Aziz  clutched  at  his  sister's  arm, 
whispering  rapidly  in  Arabic.  I  saw  her  peach- 
like color  fade;  saw  her  become  pale  and  wild- 
eyed  —  the  haunted  Karamaneh  of  the  old  days. 
She  turned  to  me. 

"  Dr.  Petrie  —  he  says  that  Fu-Manchu  is 
here ! " 

"Where?" 

Nayland  Smith  rapped  out  the  question  vio- 
lently, turning  in  a  flash  from  the  picture  which 
he  was  examining. 

"  In  this  room ! "  she  whispered  glancing  fur- 
tively, aff  rightedly  about  her.  "  Something  tells 
Aziz  when  he  is  near  —  and  I,  too,  feel  strangely 
afraid.     Oh,  can  it  be  that  he  is  not  dead !  " 

She  held  my  arm  tightly.  Her  brother  was 
searching  the  room  with  big,  velvet  black  eyes. 
I  studied  the  faces  of  the  several  visitors;  and 
Smith  was  staring  about  him  with  the  old  alert 
look,  and  tugging  nervously  at  the  lobe  of  his  ear. 
The  name  of  the  giant  foe  of  the  white  race  in- 


354      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

stantaneously  had  strung  him  up  to  a  pitch  of 
supreme  intensity. 

Our  united  scrutinies  discovered  no  figure 
which  could  have  been  that  of  the  Chinese  doctor. 
Who  could  mistake  that  long,  gaunt  shape,  with 
the  high,  mummy-like  shoulders,  and  the  inde- 
scribable gait,  which  I  can  only  liken  to  that 
of  an  awkward  cat? 

Then,  over  the  heads  of  a  group  of  people  who 
stood  by  the  doorway,  I  saw  Smith  peering  at 
someone  —  at  someone  who  passed  across  the 
outer  room.  Stepping  aside,  I,  too,  obtained  a 
glimpse  of  this  person. 

As  I  saw  him,  he  was  a  tall,  old  man,  wearing 
a  black  Inverness  coat  and  a  rather  shabby  silk 
hat.  He  had  long  white  hair  and  a  patriarchal 
beard,  wore  smoked  glasses  and  walked  slowly, 
leaning  upon  a  stick. 

Smith's  gaunt  face  paled.  With  a  rapid  glance 
at  Karamaneh,  he  made  off  across  the  room. 

Could  it  be  Dr.  Fu-Manchu? 

Many  days  had  passed  since,  already  half- 
choked  by  Inspector  Weymouth's  iron  grip,  Fu- 
Manchu,  before  our  own  eyes,  had  been  swal- 
lowed up  by  the  Thames.  Even  now  men  were 
seeking  his  body,  and  that  of  his  last  victim. 
Nor  had  we  left  any  stone  unturned.  Acting 
upon  information  furnished  by  Karamandh,  the 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      355 

police  had  searched  every  known  haunt  of  the 
murder  group.  But  everything  pointed  to 
the  fact  that  the  group  was  disbanded  and  dis- 
persed; that  the  lord  of  strange  deaths  who  had 
ruled  it  was  no  more. 

Yet  Smith  was  not  satisfied.  Neither,  let  me 
confess,  was  I.  Every  port  was  watched;  and 
in  suspected  districts  a  kind  of  house-to-house 
patrol  had  been  instituted.  Unknown  to  the 
great  public,  in  those  days  a  secret  war  waged 
—  a  war  in  which  all  the  available  forces  of  the 
authorities  took  the  field  against  one  man !  But 
that  one  man  was  the  evil  of  the  East  incarnate. 

When  we  rejoined  him,  Nayland  Smith  was 
talking  to  the  commissionaire  at  the  door.  He 
turned  to  me. 

"  That  is  Professor  Jenner  Monde,"  he  said. 
"  The  sergeant,  here,  knows  him  well." 

The  name  of  the  celebrated  Orientalist  of 
course  was  familiar  to  me,  although  I  had  never 
before  set  eyes  upon  him. 

"  The  Professor  was  out  East  the  last  time  I 
was  there,  sir,"  stated  the  commissionaire.  "  I 
often  used  to  see  him.  But  he's  an  eccentric  old 
gentleman.  Seems  to  live  in  a  world  of  his  own. 
He's  recently  back  from  China,  I  think." 

Nayland  Smith  stood  clicking  his  teeth  to- 
gether in  irritable  hesitation.     I   heard  Kara- 


356      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

maneh  sigh,  and,  looking  at  her,  I  saw  that  her 
cheeks  were  regaining  their  natural  color. 

She  smiled  in  pathetic  apology. 

"  If  he  was  here  he  is  gone,"  she  said.  "  I  am 
not  afraid  now." 

Smith  thanked  the  commissionaire  for  his  in- 
formation and  we  quitted  the  gallery. 

"  Professor  Jenner  Monde,"  muttered  my 
friend,  "  has  lived  so  long  in  China  as  almost  to 
be  a  Chinaman.  I  have  never  met  him  —  never 
seen  him,  before;  but  I  wonder — " 

"You  wonder  what,  Smith?" 

"  I  wonder  if  he  could  possibly  be  an  ally  of 
the  Doctor's ! " 

I  stared  at  him  in  amazement. 

"  If  we  are  to  attach  any  importance  to  the 
incident  at  all,"  I  said,  "  we  must  remember  that 
the  boy's  impression  —  and  Karamaneh's —  was 
that  Fu-Manchu  was  present  in  person." 

"  I  do  attach  importance  to  the  incident, 
Petrie;  they  are  naturally  sensitive  to  such  im- 
pressions. But  I  doubt  if  even  the  abnormal  or- 
ganization of  Aziz  could  distinguish  between  the 
hidden  presence  of  a  creature  of  the  Doctor's 
and  that  of  the  Doctor  himself.  I  shall  make 
a  point  of  calling  upon  Professor  Jenner 
Monde." 

But  Fate  had  ordained  that  much  should  hap- 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      357 

pen  ere  Smith,  made  his  proposed  call  upon  the 
Professor. 

Karamaneh  and  her  brother  safely  lodged  in 
their  hotel  (which  was  watched  night  and  day 
by  four  men  under  Smith's  orders),  we  returned 
to  my  quiet  suburban  rooms. 

"  First,"  said  Smith,  "  let  us  see  what  we  can 
find  out  respecting  Professor  Monde." 

He  went  to  the  telephone  and  called  up  New 
Scotland  Yard.  There  followed  some  little  de- 
lay before  the  requisite  information  was  ob- 
tained. Finally,  however,  we  learned  that  the 
Professor  was  something  of  a  recluse,  having  few 
acquaintances,  and  fewer  friends. 

He  lived  alone  in  chambers  in  New  Inn  Court, 
Carey  Street.  A  charwoman  did  such  cleaning 
as  was  considered  necessary  by  the  Professor, 
who  employed  no  regular  domestic.  When  he 
was  in  London  he  might  be  seen  fairly  frequently 
at  the  British  Museum,  where  his  shabby  figure 
was  familiar  to  the  officials.  When  he  was  not 
in  London  —  that  is,  during  the  greater  part 
of  each  year  —  no  one  knew  where  he  went.  He 
never  left  any  address  to  which  letters  might  be 
forwarded. 

"How  long  has  he  been  in  London  now?" 
asked  Smith. 

So  far  as  could  be  ascertained  from  New  Inn 


358      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

Court  (replied  Scotland  Yard)  roughly  a  week. 

My  friend  left  the  telephone  and  began  rest* 
lessly  to  pace  the  room.  The  charred  briar  was 
produced  and  stuffed  with  that  broad  cut  Latakia 
mixture  of  which  Nayland  Smith  consumed  close 
upon  a  pound  a  week.  He  was  one  of  those  un- 
tidy smokers  who  leave  tangled  tufts  hanging 
from  the  pipe-bowl  and  when  they  light  up  strew 
the  floor  with  smoldering  fragments. 

A  ringing  came,  and  shortly  afterwards  a  girl 
entered. 

"  Mr.  James  Weymouth  to  see  you,  sir/' 

"  Hullo !  "  rapped  Smith.     "  What's  this?  " 

Weymouth  entered,  big  and  florid,  and  in  some 
respects  singularly  like  his  brother,  in  others  as 
singularly  unlike.  Now,  in  his  black  suit,  he  was 
a  somber  figure;  and  in  the  blue  eyes  I  read  a 
fear  suppressed. 

"  Mr.  Smith,"  he  began,  "  there's  something 
uncanny  going  on  at  Maple  Cottage." 

Smith  wheeled  the  big  arm-chair  forward. 

"  Sit  down,  Mr.  Weymouth,"  he  said.  "  I  am 
not  entirely  surprised.  But  you  have  my  atten- 
tion.    What  has  occurred?" 

Weymouth  took  a  cigarette  from  the  box  which. 
I  proffered  and  poured  out  a  peg  of  whisky.  His 
hand  was  not  quite  steady. 

"  That  knocking,"   he   explained.    "  It  came 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      359 

again  the  night  after  you  were  there,  and  Mrs. 
Weymouth  —  my  wife,  I  mean  —  felt  that  she 
couldn't  spend  another  night  there,  alone  — " 

"  Did  she  look  out  of  the  window?  "  I  asked. 

"  No,  Doctor ;  she  was  afraid.  But  I  spent 
last  night  downstairs  in  the  sitting-room  —  and 
/  looked  out!" 

He  took  a  gulp  from  his  glass.  Nayland 
Smith,  seated  on  the  edge  of  the  table,  his  ex- 
tinguished pipe  in  his  hand,  was  watching  him 
keenly. 

"  I'll  admit  I  didn't  look  out  at  once,"  Wey- 
mouth resumed.  "  There  was  something  so  un- 
canny, gentlemen,  in  that  knocking  —  knocking 
—  in  the  dead  of  the  night.  I  thought  " —  his 
voice  shook  — "  of  poor  Jack,  lying  somewhere 
amongst  the  slime  of  the  river  —  and,  oh,  my 
God!  it  came  to  me  that  it  was  Jack  who  was 
knocking  —  and  I  dare  not  think  what  he  — 
what  it  —  would  look  like !  " 

He  leaned  forward,  his  chin  in  his  hand.  For 
a  few  moments  we  were  all  silent. 

"  I  know  I  funked,"  he  continued  huskily. 
"  But  when  the  wife  came  to  the  head  of  the 
stairs  and  whispered  to  me:  '  There  it  is  again. 
What  in  heaven's  name  can  it  be ' —  I  started  to 
unbolt  the  door.  The  knocking  had  stopped. 
Everything  was  very  still.     I  heard  Mary  —  his 


360      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

widow  —  sobbing,  upstairs ;  that  was  all.  I 
opened  the  door,  a  little  bit  at  a  time." 

Pausing  again,  he  cleared  his  throat,  and  went 
on: 

"  It  was  a  bright  night,  and  there  was  no  one 
there  —  not  a  soul.  But  somewhere  down  the 
lane,  as  I  looked  out  into  the  porch,  I  heard  most 
awful  groans!  They  got  fainter  and  fainter. 
Then  —  I  could  have  sworn  I  heard  someone 
laughing!  My  nerves  cracked  up  at  that;  and  I 
shut  the  door  again." 

The  narration  of  his  weird  experience  revived 
something  of  the  natural  fear  which  it  had  oc- 
casioned. He  raised  his  glass,  with  unsteady 
hand,  and  drained  it. 

Smith  struck  a  match  and  relighted  his  pipe. 
He  began  to  pace  the  room  again.  His  eyes 
were  literally  on  fire. 

"  Would  it  be  possible  to  get  Mrs.  Weymouth 
out  of  the  house  before  to-night?  Remove  her 
to  your  place,  for  instance?"  he  asked  abruptly. 

Weymouth  looked  up  in  surprise. 

"  She  seems  to  be  in  a  very  low  state,"  he  re- 
plied. He  glanced  at  me.  "  Perhaps  Dr.  Petrie 
would  give  us  an  opinion?" 

"  I  will  come  and  see  her,"  I  said.  "  But  what 
is  your  idea,  Smith?" 

*  I  want  to  hear  that  knocking !  "  he  rapped. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      361 

"  But  in  what  I  may  see  fit  to  do  I  must  not  be 
handicapped  by  the  presence  of  a  sick  woman." 

"  Her  condition  at  any  rate  will  admit  of  our 
administering  an  opiate,"  I  suggested.  "  That 
would  meet  the  situation?  " 

"  Good !  "  cried  Smith.  He  was  intensely  ex- 
cited now.  "  I  rely  upon  you  to  arrange  some- 
thing, Petrie.  Mr.  Weymouth  " —  he  turned  to 
our  visitor  — "  I  shall  be  with  you  this  evening 
not  later  than  twelve  o'clock." 

Weymouth  appeared  to  be  greatly  relieved.  I 
asked  him  to  wait  whilst  I  prepared  a  draught 
for  the  patient.     When  he  was  gone : 

"What  do  you  think  this  knocking  means, 
Smith?"  I  asked. 

He  tapped  out  his  pipe  on  the  side  of  the  grate 
and  began  with  nervous  energy  to  refill  it  again 
from  the  dilapidated  pouch. 

"  I  dare  not  tell  you  what  I  hope,  Petrie,"  he 
replied — "nor  what  I  fear." 


Chapter  XXIX 

I 

kUSK  was  falling  when  we  made  our  way 
in  the  direction  of  Maple  Cottage.  Nay- 
land  Smith  appeared  to  be  keenly  inter- 
ested in  the  character  of  the  district.  A  high 
and  ancient  wall  bordered  the  road  along  which 
we  walked  for  a  considerable  distance.  Later 
it  gave  place  to  a  rickety  fence. 

My  friend  peered  through  a  gap  in  the  latter. 

"  There  is  quite  an  extensive  estate  here,"  he 
said,  "  not  yet  cut  up  by  the  builder.  It  is  well 
wooded  on  one  side,  and  there  appears  to  be  a 
pool  lower  down." 

The  road  was  a  quiet  one,  and  we  plainly  heard 
the  tread  —  quite  unmistakable  —  of  an  ape 
proaching  policeman.  Smith  continued  to  peer 
through  the  hole  in  the  fence,  until  the  officer 
drew  up  level  with  us.     Then : 

"  Does  this  piece  of  ground  extend  down  to  the 
village,  constable?"  he  inquired. 

Quite  willing  for  a  chat,  the  man  stopped,  and 
stood  with  his  thumbs  thrust  in  his  belt. 

"  Yes,  sir.    They  tell  me  three  new  roads  will 

362 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      368 

be  made  through  it  between  here  and  the  hill." 

"  It  must  be  a  happy  hunting  ground  for 
tramps?" 

"  I've  seen  some  suspicious-looking  coves 
about  at  times.  But  after  dusk  an  army  might 
be  inside  there  and  nobody  would  ever  be  the 
wiser." 

"  Burglaries  frequent  in  the  houses  backing  on 
to  it?" 

"  Oh,  no.  A  favorite  game  in  these  parts  is 
snatching  loaves  and  bottles  of  milk  from  the 
doors,  first  thing,  as  they're  delivered.  There's 
been  an  extra  lot  of  it  lately.  My  mate  who  re- 
lieves me  has  got  special  instructions  to  keep  his 
eye  open  in  the  mornings !  "  The  man  grinned. 
"  It  wouldn't  be  a  very  big  case  even  if  he  caught 
anybody ! " 

"  No,"  said  Smith  absently ;  "  perhaps  not. 
Your  business  must  be  a  dry  one  this  warm 
weather.     Good-night." 

"  Good-night,  sir,"  replied  the  constable,  richer 
by  half-a-crown — "and  thank  you." 

Smith  stared  after  him  for  a  moment,  tugging 
reflectively  at  the  lobe  of  his  ear. 

"  I  don't  know  that  it  wouldn't  be  a  big  case, 
after  all,"  he  murmured.     "  Come  on,  Petrie.* 

Not  another  word  did  he  speak,  until  we  »tood 
at  the  gate  of  Mapie  Cottage,    There  a  plain- 


364      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCH^ 

/ 
clothes   man  was  standing,   evidently  awaiting 

Smith.     He  touched  his  hat.  / 

"  Have  you  found  a  suitable  hiding-p/ace?  " 
asked  my  companion  rapidly.  / 

"  Yes,  sir,"  was  the  reply.  "  Kent  —  riy  mate 
—  is  there  now.  You'll  notice  that  he /can't  be 
seen  from  here." 

"  No,"  agreed  Smith,  peering  all  aibout  him. 
"He  can't.     Where  is  he?" 

"  Behind  the  broken  wall,"  explained  the  man, 
pointing.  "  Through  that  ivy  there's  a  clear 
view  of  the  cottage  door." 

"  Good.  Keep  your  eyes  open.  If  a  messen- 
ger comes  for  me,  he  is  to  be  intercepted,  you 
understand.  No  one  must  be  allowed  to  disturb 
us.  You  will  recognize  the  messenger.  He  will 
be  one  of  your  fellows.  Should  he  come  —  hoot 
three  times,  as  much  like  an  owl  as  you  can." 

We  walked  up  to  the  porch  of  the  cottage. 
In  response  to  Smith's  ringing  came  James  Wey- 
mouth, who  seemed  greatly  relieved  by  our  ar- 
rival. 

"  First,"  said  my  friend  briskly,  "  you  had 
better  run  up  and  see  the  patient." 

Accordingly,  I  followed  Weymouth  upstairs 
and  was  admitted  by  his  wife  to  a  neat  little  bed- 
room where  the  grief-stricken  woman  lay,  a 
wanly  pathetic  sight. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      365 

"Did  you  administer  the  draught,  as  di- 
rected? "  I  asked. 

Mrs.  James  Weymouth  nodded.  She  was  a 
kindly  looking  woman,  with  the  same  dread 
haunting  her  hazel  eyes  as  that  which  lurked  in 
her  husband's  blue  ones. 

The  patient  was  sleeping  soundly.  Some 
whispered  instructions  I  gave  to  the  faithful 
nurse  and  descended  to  the  sitting-room.  It  was 
a  warm  night,  and  Weymouth  sat  by  the  open 
window,  smoking.  The  dim  light  from  the  lamp 
on  the  table  lent  him  an  almost  startling  like- 
ness to  his  brother ;  and  for  a  moment  I  stood  at 
the  foot  of  the  stairs  scarce  able  to  trust  my 
reason.  Then  he  turned  his  face  fully  towards 
me,  and  the  illusion  was  lost. 

"  Do  you  think  she  is  likely  to  wake,  Doctor?  " 
he  asked. 

"  I  think  not,"  I  replied. 

Nayland  Smith  stood  upon  the  rug  before  the 
hearth,  swinging  from  one  foot  to  the  other,  in 
his  nervously  restless  way.  The  room  was  foggy 
with  the  fumes  of  tobacco,  for  he,  too,  was  smok- 
ing. 

At  intervals  of  some  five  to  ten  minutes* 
his  blackened  briar  (which  I  never  knew  him  to 
clean  or  scrape)  would  go  out.  I  think  Smith 
used  more  matches  than  any  other  smoker  I  have 


366      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

ever  met,  and  he  invariably  carried  three  boxes 
in  various  pockets  of  his  garments. 

The  tobacco  habit  is  infectious,  and,  seating 
myself  in  an  arm-chair,  I  lighted  a  cigarette. 
For  this  dreary  vigil  I  had  come  prepared-  with 
a  bunch  of  rough  notes,  a  writing-block,  and  a 
fountain  pen.  I  settled  down  to  work  upon  my 
record  of  the  Fu-Manchu  case. 

Silence  fell  upon  Maple  Cottage.  Save  for 
the  shuddering  sigh  which  whispered  through 
the  over-hanging  cedars  and  Smith's  eternal 
match-striking,  nothing  was  there  to  disturb  me 
in  my  task.  Yet  I  could  make  little  progress. 
Between  my  mind  and  the  chapter  upon  which 
I  was  at  work  a  certain  sentence  persistently 
intruded  itself.  It  was  as  though  an  unseen 
hand  held  the  written  page  closely  before  my 
eyes.     This  was  the  sentence: 

"  Imagine  a  person,  tall,  lean,  and  feline,  high- 
shouldered,  with  a  brow  like  Shakespeare  and  a 
face  like  Satan,  a  close-shaven  skull,  and  long, 
magnetic  eyes  of  the  true  cat-green:  invest  him 
with  all  the  cruel  cunning  of  an  entire  Eastern 
race,  accumulated  in  one  giant  intellect  .  .  ." 

Dr.  Fu-Manchu!  Fu-Mancfiu  as  Smith  had 
described  him  to  me  on  that  night  which  now 
seemed  so  remotely  distant  —  the  night  upon 
which  I  had  learned  of  the  existence  of  the 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      367 

wonderful  and  evil  being  born  of  that  secret 
quickening  which,  stirred  in  the  womb  of  the  yel- 
low races. 

As  Smith,  for  the  ninth  or  tenth  time,  knocked 
out  his  pipe  on  a  bar  of  the  grate,  the  cuckoo 
clock  in  the  kitchen  proclaimed  the  hour. 

"  Two,"  said  James  Weymouth. 

I  abandoned  my  task,  replacing  notes  and 
writing-block  in  the  bag  that  I  had  with  me. 
Weymouth  adjusted  the  lamp  which  had  begun 
to  smoke. 

I  tiptoed  to  the  stairs  and,  stepping  softly, 
ascended  to  the  sick  room.  All  was  quiet,  and 
Mrs.  Weymouth  whispered  to  me  that  the  patient 
still  slept  soundly.  I  returned  to  find  Nayland 
Smith  pacing  about  the  room  in  that  state  of  sup- 
pressed excitement  habitual  with  him  in  the  ap- 
proach of  any  crisis.  At  a  quarter  past  two  the 
breeze  dropped  entirely,  and  such  a  stillness 
reigned  all  about  us  as  I  could  not  have  supposed 
possible  so  near  to  the  ever-throbbing  heart  of 
the  great  metropolis.  Plainly  I  could  hear  Wey- 
mouth's heavy  breathing.  He  sat  at  the  win- 
dow and  looked  out  into  the  black  shadows  under 
the  cedars.  Smith  ceased  his  pacing  and  stood 
again  on  the  rug  very  still.  He  was  listening! 
I  doubt  not  we  were  all  listening. 

Some  faint  sound  broke  the  impressive  still- 


£68     THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

jiess,  coming  from  the  direction  of  the  village 
street.  It  was  a  vague,  indefinite  disturbance, 
brief,  and  upon  it  ensued  a  silence  more  marked 
than  ever.  Some  minutes  before,  Smith  had  ex- 
tinguished the  lamp.  In  the  darkness  I  heard 
his  teeth  snap  sharply  together. 

The  call  of  an  owl  sounded  very  clearly  three 
times. 

I  knew  that  to  mean  that  a  messenger  had 
come;  but  from  whence  or  bearing  what  tidings 
I  knew  not.  My  friend's  plans  were  incompre- 
hensible to  me,  nor  had  I  pressed  him  for  any  ex- 
planation of  their  nature,  knowing  him  to  be  in 
that  high-strung  and  somewhat  irritable  mood 
which  claimed  him  at  times  of  uncertainty  — 
when  he  doubted  the  wisdom  of  his  actions,  the 
accuracy  of  his  surmises.     He  gave  no  sign. 

Very  faintly  I  heard  a  clock  strike  the  half- 
hour.  A  soft  breeze  stole  again  through  the 
branches  above.  The  wind  I  thought  must  be 
in  a  new  quarter  since  I  had  not  heard  the  clock 
before.  In  so  lonely  a  spot  it  was  difficult  to 
believe  that  the  bell  was  that  of  St.  Paul's.  Yet 
such  was  the  fact. 

And  hard  upon  the  ringing  followed  another 
sound  —  a  sound  we  all  had  expected,  had  waited 
for;  but  at  whose  coming  no  one  of  us,  I  think, 
retained  complete  mastery  of  himself. 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      369 

Breaking  up  the  silence  in  a  manner  that  set 
my  heart  wildly  leaping  it  came  —  an  imperative 
knocking  on  the  door ! 

"  My  God !  "  groaned  Weymouth  —  but  he  did 
not  move  from  his  position  at  the  window. 

"  Stand  by,  Petrie !  "  said  Smith. 

He  strode  to  the  door  —  and  threw  it  widely 
open. 

I  know  I  was  very  pale.  I  think  I  cried  out 
as  I  fell  back  —  retreated  with  clenched  hands 
from  before  that  which  stood  on  the  threshold. 

It  was  a  wild,  unkempt  figure,  with  straggling 
beard,  hideously  staring  eyes.  With  its  hands 
it  clutched  at  its  hair  —  at  its  chin;  plucked  at 
its  mouth.  No  moonlight  touched  the  features 
of  this  unearthly  visitant,  but  scanty  as  was  the 
illumination  we  could  see  the  gleaming  teeth  — 
and  the  wildly  glaring  eyes. 

It  began  to  laugh  —  peal  after  peal  —  hideous 
and  shrill. 

Nothing  so  terrifying  had  ever  smote  upon  my 
ears.     I  was  palsied  by  the  horror  of  the  sound. 

Then  Nayland  Smith  pressed  the  button  of  an 
electric  torch  which  he  carried.  He  directed 
the  disk  of  white  light  fully  upon  the  face  in  the 
doorway. 

"  Oh,  God !  "  cried  Weymouth.  "  It's  John !  " 
—  and  again  and  again :  "  Oh,  God !     Oh,  God !  £ 


370      THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU 

Perhaps  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  really 
believed  (nay,  I  could  not  doubt)  that  a  thing  of 
another  world  stood  before  me.  I  am  ashamed 
to  confess  the  extent  of  the  horror  that  came 
upon  me.  James  Weymouth  raised  his  hands, 
as  if  to  thrust  away  from  him  that  awful  thing 
in  the  door.  He  was  babbling  —  prayers,  I 
think,  but  wholly  incoherent. 

"Hold  him,  Petrie!" 

Smith's  voice  was  low.  (When  we  were  past 
thought  or  intelligent  action,  he,  dominant  and 
cool,  with  that  forced  calm  for  which,  a  crisis 
over,  he  always  paid  so  dearly,  was  thinking  of 
the  woman  who  slept  above.) 

He  leaped  forward;  and  in  the  instant  that  he 
grappled  with  the  one  who  had  knocked  I  knew 
the  visitant  for  a  man  of  flesh  and  blood  —  a 
man  who  shrieked  and  fought  like  a  savage  ani- 
mal, foamed  at  the  mouth  and  gnashed  his  teeth" 
in  horrid  frenzy ;  knew  him  for  a  madman  — 
knew  him  for  the  victim  of  Fu-Manchu  —  not 
dead,  but  living  —  for  Inspector  Weymouth  —  a 
maniac ! 

In  a  flash  I  realized  all  this  and  sprang  to 
Smith's  assistance.  There  was  a  sound  of  racing 
footsteps  and  the  men  who  had  been  watching 
outside  came  running  into  the  porch.  A  third 
was  with  them;  and  the  fiye  of  us    (for  Wey< 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      371 

mouth's  brother  had  not  yet  grasped  the  fact 
that  a  man  and  not  a  spirit  shrieked  and  howled 
in  our  midst)  clung  to  the  infuriated  madman5 
yet  barely  held  our  own  with  him. 

"  The  syringe,  Petrie ! "  gasped  Smith, 
"  Quick !  You  must  manage  to  make  an  injec- 
tion!" 

I  extricated  myself  and  raced  into  the  cottage 
for  my  bag.  A  hypodermic  syringe  ready 
charged  I  had  brought  with  me  at  Smith's  re- 
quest. Even  in  that  thrilling  moment  I  could 
find  time  to  admire  the  wonderful  foresight  of 
my  friend,  who  had  divined  what  would  befall 
—  isolated  the  strange,  pitiful  truth  from  the 
chaotic  circumstances  which  saw  us  at  Maple 
Cottage  that  night. 

Let  me  not  enlarge  upon  the  end  of  the  awful 
struggle.  At  one  time  I  despaired  (we  all  de- 
spaired) of  quieting  the  poor,  demented  creature. 
But  at  last  it  was  done;  and  the  gaunt,  blood- 
stained savage  whoaa  we  had  know£  as  Detect- 
ive-Inspector Weymouth  lay  passive  upon  the 
couch  in  his  own  sitting-room.  A  great  wonder 
possessed  my  mind  for  the  genius  of  the  uncanny 
being  who  with  the  scratch  of  a  needle  had  made 
a  brave  and  kindly  man  into  this  unclean,  bru- 
tish thing. 

Nayland    Smith,    gaunt   and   wild-eyed,    and 


372      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

trembling  yet  with  his  tremendous  exertions^ 
turned  to  the  man  whom  I  knew  to  be  the  mes- 
senger from  Scotland  Yard. 

"Well?"  he  rapped. 

"  He  is  arrested,  sir/'  the  detective  reported. 
"  They  have  kept  him  at  his  chambers  as  you 
ordered." 

"Has  she  slept  through  it?"  said  Smith  to 
me.  (I  had  just  returned  from  a  visit  to  the 
room  above.)     I  nodded. 

"  Is  he  safe  for  an  hour  or  two?  " —  indicating 
the  figure  on  the  couch. 

"  For  eight  or  ten,"  I  replied  grimly. 

"Come,  then.  Our  night's  labors  are  not 
nearly  complete.'* 


Chapter  XXX 

LATER  was  forthcoming  evidence  to  show 
that  poor  Weymouth  had  lived  a  wild  life, 
in  hiding  among  the  thick  bushes  of  the 
tract  of  land  which  lay  between  the  village  and 
the  suburb  on  the  neighboring  hill.  Literally, 
he  had  returned  to  primitive  savagery  and  some 
of  his  food  had  been  that  of  the  lower  animals, 
though  he  had  not  scrupled  to  steal,  as  we  learned 
when  his  lair  was  discovered. 

He  had  hidden  himself  cunningly;  but  wit- 
nesses appeared  who  had  seen  him,  in  the  dusk, 
and  fled  from  him.  They  never  learned  that  the 
object  of  their  fear  was  Inspector  John  Wey- 
mouth. How,  having  escaped  death  in  the 
Thames,  he  had  crossed  London  unobserved,  we 
never  knew;  but  his  trick  of  knocking  upon  his 
own  door  at  half-past  two  each  morning  (a  sort 
of  dawning  of  sanity  mysteriously  linked  with 
old  custom)  will  be  a  familiar  class  of  symptom 
to  all  students  of  alienation. 

I  revert  to  the  night  when  Smith  solved  tha 
mystery  of  the  knocking. 

373 


374      THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU 

In  a  car  which  he  had  in  waiting  at  the  end  of 
the  village  we  sped  through  the  deserted  streets 
to  New  Inn  Court.  I,  who  had  followed  Nay- 
land  Smith  through  the  failures  and  successes 
of  his  mission,  knew  that  to-night  he  had  sur- 
passed himself;  had  justified  the  confidence 
placed  in  him  by  the  highest  authorities. 

We  were  admitted  to  an  untidy  room  —  that 
of  a  student,  a  traveler  and  a  crank  —  by  a  plain- 
clothes officer.  Amid  picturesque  and  disordered 
fragments  of  a  hundred  ages,  in  a  great  carven 
chair  placed  before  a  towering  statue  of  the 
Buddha,  sat  a  hand-cuffed  man.  His  white  hair 
and  beard  were  patriarchal;  his  pose  had  great 
dignity.  But  his  expression  was  entirely  masked 
by  the  smoked  glasses  which  he  wore. 

Two  other  detectives  were  guarding  the 
prisoner. 

"  We  arrested  Professor  3enner  Monde  as  he 
came  in,  sir,"  reported  the  man  who  had  opened 
the  door.  "  He  has  made  no  statement.  I  hope 
there  isn't  a  mistake." 

"  I  hope  not,"  rapped  Smith. 

He  strode  across  the  room.  He  was  consumed 
by  a  fever  of  excitement.  Almost  savagely,  he 
tore  away  the  beard,  tore  off  the  snowy  wig  — 
dashed  the  smoked  glasses  upon  the  floor. 

A  great,  high  brow  was  revealed,  and  green, 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      375 

malignant  eyes,  which  fixed  themselves  upon  him 
with  an  expression  I  never  can  forget. 

It  was  Dr.  Fu-Manchu! 

One  intense  moment  of  silence  ensued  —  of 
silence  which  seemed  to  throb.     Then : 

"  What  have  you  done  with  Professor  Monde?  " 
demanded  Smith. 

Dr.  Fu-Manchu  showed  his  even,  yellow  teeth 
in  the  singularly  evil  smile  which  I  knew  so  well. 
A  manacled  prisoner  he  sat  as  unruffled  as  a 
judge  upon  the  bench.  In  truth  and  in  justice  I 
am  compelled  to  say  that  Fu-Manchu  was  abso 
lutely  fearless. 

"  He  has  been  detained  in  China,"  he  replied, 
in  smooth,  sibilant  tones  — "  by  affairs  of  great 
urgency.  His  well-known  personality  and  un- 
gregarious  habits  have  served  me  well,  here ! " 

Smith,  I  could  see,  was  undetermined  how  to 
act;  he  stood  tugging  at  his  ear  and  glancing 
from  the  impassive  Chinaman  to  the  wondering 
detectives. 

"  What  are  we  to  do,  sir?  "  one  of  them  asked. 

"  Leave  Dr.  Petrie  and  myself  alone  with  the 
prisoner,  until  I  call  you." 

The  three  withdrew.  I  divined  now  what  was 
coming. 

"  Can  you  restore  Weymouth's  sanity? " 
rapped   Smith   abruptly.     "  I   cannot  save  you 


376      THE  INSIDIOUS  DB.  FU-MANCHU 

from  the  hangman,  nor " —  his  fists  clenched 
convulsively  — "  would  I  if  I  could ;  but  — " 

Fu-Manchu  fixed  his  brilliant  eyes  upon  him. 

"  Say  no  more,  Mr.  Smith,"  he  interrupted ; 
"  you  misunderstand  me.  I  do  not  quarrel  with 
that,  but  what  I  have  done  from  conviction  and 
what  I  have  done  of  necessity  are  separated — - 
are  seas  apart.  The  brave  Inspector  Weymouth 
I  wounded  with  a  poisoned  needle,  in  self-defense ; 
but  I  regret  his  condition  as  greatly  as  you  do. 
I  respect  such  a  man.  There  is  an  antidote  t<v 
the  poison  of  the  needle." 

"  Name  it,"  said  Smith. 

Fu-Manchu  smiled  again. 

"  Useless,"  he  replied.  "  I  alone  can  prepare 
it.  My  secrets  shall  die  with  me.  I  will  make 
a  sane  man  of  Inspector  Weymouth,  but  no  one 
else  shall  be  in  the  house  but  he  and  I." 

"  It  will  be  surrounded  by  police,"  interrupted 
Smith  grimly. 

"As  you  please,"  said  Fu-Manchu.  "Make 
your  arrangements.  In  that  ebony  case  upon 
the  table  are  the  instruments  for  the  cure.  Ar- 
range for  me  to  visit  him  where  and  when  you 
will  — " 

"  I  distrust  you  utterly.  It  is  some  trick," 
jerked  Smith. 

Dr.  Fu-Manchu  rose  slowly  and  drew  himself 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      377 

up  to  his  great  height.  His  manacled  hands 
could  not  rob  him  of  the  uncanny  dignity  which 
was  his.  He  raised  them  above  his  head  with  a 
tragic  gesture  and  fixed  his  piercing  gaze  upon 
Nayland  Smith. 

"  The  God  of  Cathay  hear  me,"  he  said,  with  a 
deep,  guttural  note  in  his  voice  — "  I  swear  — " 

The  most  awful  visitor  who  ever  threatened 
the  peace  of  England,  the  end  of  the  visit  of 
Fu-Manchu  was  characteristic  —  terrible  —  in- 
explicable. 

Strange  to  relate,  I  did  not  doubt  that  this 
weird  being  had  conceived  some  kind  of  adnrira* 
tion  or  respect  for  the  man  to  whom  he  had 
wrought  so  terrible  an  injury.  He  was  capable 
of  such  sentiments,  for  he  entertained  some  sim- 
ilar one  in  regard  to  myself. 

A  cottage  farther  down  the  village  street  than 
Weymouth's  was  vacant,  and  in  the  early  dawn 
of  that  morning  became  the  scene  of  outre  hap- 
penings. Poor  Weymouth,  still  in  a  comatose 
condition,  we  removed  there  (Smith  having  se- 
cured the  key  from  the  astonished  agent).  I 
suppose  so  strange  a  specialist  never  visited  a 
patient  before  —  certainly  not  under  such  con- 
ditions. 

For  into  the  cottage,  which  had  been  entirely 


378      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

surrounded  by  a  ring  of  police,  Dr.  Fu-Manchu 
was  admitted  from  the  closed  car  in  which,  his 
work  of  healing  complete,  he  was  to  be  borne  to 
prison  —  to  death! 

Law  and  justice  were  suspended  by  my  royally 
empowered  friend  that  the  enemy  of  the  white 
race  might  heal  one  of  those  who  had  hunted  him 
down ! 

No  curious  audience  was  present,  for  sunrise 
was  not  yet  come;  no  concourse  of  excited  stu- 
dents followed  the  hand  of  the  Master ;  but  with- 
in that  surrounded  cottage  was  performed  one 
of  those  miracles  of  science  which  in  other  cir- 
cumstances had  made  the  fame  of  Dr.  Fu-Man- 
chu to  live  forever. 

Inspector  Weymouth,  dazed,  disheveled, 
clutching  his  head  as  a  man  who  has  passed 
through  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  —  but  sane  — 
sane !  —  walked  out  into  the  porch ! 

He  looked  towards  us  —  his  eyes  wild,  but  not 
with  the  fearsome  wildness  of  insanity. 

"  Mr.  Smith !  "  he  cried  —  and  staggered  down 
the  path  — "  Dr.  Petrie !    What  — " 

There  came  a  deafening  explosion.  From 
every  visible  window  of  the  deserted  cottage 
Hames  burst  forth ! 

a  Quick! "  Smith's  voice  rose  almost  to  a 
scream  — "  into  the  house !  " 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DE.  FU-MANCHU      379 

He  raced  up  the  path,  past  Inspector  Wey- 
mouth, who  stood  swaying  there  like  a  drunken 
man.  I  was  close  upon  his  heels.  Behind  me 
came  the  police. 

The  door  was  impassable!  Already,  it  vom- 
ited a  deathly  heat,  borne  upon  stifling  fumes 
like  those  of  the  mouth  of  the  Pit.  We  burst  a 
window.     The  room  within  was  a  furnace! 

"  My  God ! "  cried  someone.  "  This  is  super- 
natural ! " 

"  Listen !  "  cried  another.     "  Listen !  " 

The  crowd  which  a  fire  can  conjure  up  at  any] 
hour  of  day  or  night,  out  of  the  void  of  nowhere, 
was  gathering  already.  But  upon  all  descended 
a  pall  of  silence. 

From  the  heat  of  the  holocaust  a  voice  pro- 
claimed itself  —  a  voice  raised,  not  in  anguish 
but  in  triumph!  It  chanted  barbarically  —  and 
was  still. 

The  abnormal  flames  rose  higher  —  leaping 
forth  from  every  window. 

"  The  alarm !  "  said  Smith  hoarsely.  "  Call 
up  the  brigade !  " 

•  •••••• 

I  come  to  the  close  of  my  chronicle,  and  feel 
that  I  betray  a  trust  —  the  trust  of  my  reader. 
For  having  limned  in  the  colors  at  my  command 
the  fiendish  Chinese  doctor,  I  am  unable  to  con- 


380      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

elude  my  task  as  I  should  desire,  unable,  with 
any  consciousness  of  finality,  to  write  Finis  to 
the  end  of  my  narrative. 

It  seems  to  me  sometimes  that  my  pen  is  but 
temporarily  idle  —  that  I  have  but  dealt  with  a 
single  phase  of  a  movement  having  a  hundred 
phases.  One  sequel  I  hope  for,  and  against  all 
the  promptings  of  logic  and  Western  bias.  If 
my  hope  shall  be  realized  I  cannot,  at  this  time, 
pretend  to  state. 

The  future,  ?mid  its  many  secrets,  holds  this 
precious  one  from  me. 

I  ask  you  then,  to  absolve  me  from  the  charge 
of  ill  completing  my  work ;  for  any  curiosity  with 
which  this  narrative  may  leave  the  reader 
burdened  is  shared  by  the  writer. 

With  intent,  I  have  rushed  you  from  the  cham- 
bers of  Professor  Jenner  Monde  to  that  closing 
episode  at  the  deserted  cottage;  I  have  made  the 
pace  hot  in  order  to*  impart  to  these  last 
pages  of  my  account  something  of  the  breath- 
less scurry  which  characterized  those  happen- 
ings. 

My  canvas  may  seem  sketchy :  it  is  my  impres- 
sion of  the  reality.  No  hard  details  remain  in 
my  mind  of  the  dealings  of  that  night.  Fu- 
Manchu  arrested  —  Fu-Manchu,  manacled,  en- 
tering the  cottage  on  his  mission  of  healing; 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DK.  FU-MANCHU      381 

Weymouth,  miraculously  rendered  sane,  coming 
forth ;  the  place  in  flames. 

And  then? 

To  a  shell  the  cottage  burned,  with  an  in- 
credible rapidity  which  pointed  to  some  hidden 
agency;  to  a  shell  about  ashes  which  held  no 
trace  of  human  bones! 

It  has  been  asked  of  me:  Was  there  no  pos- 
sibility of  Fu-Manchu's  having  eluded  us  in  the 
ensuing  confusion?  Was  there  no  loophole  of 
escape? 

I  reply,  that  so  far  as  I  was  able  to  judge,  a 
rat  could  scarce  have  quitted  the  building  unde- 
tected. Yet  that  Fu-Manchu  had,  in  some  in- 
comprehensible manner  and  by  some  mysterious 
agency,  produced  those  abnormal  flames,  I  cannot 
doubt.  Did  he  voluntarily  ignite  his  own  fu- 
neral pyre? 

As  I  write,  there  lies  before  me  a  soiled  and 
creased  sheet  of  vellum.  It  bears  some  lines 
traced  in  a  cramped,  peculiar,  and  all  but  il- 
legible hand.  This  fragment  was  found  by  In- 
spector Weymouth  (to  this  day  a  man  mentally 
sound)  in  a  pocket  of  his  ragged  garments. 

When  it  was  written  I  leave  you  to  judge. 
How  it  came  to  be  where  Weymouth  found  it 
calls  for  no  explanation: 


382      THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU 

"  To  Mr.  Commissioner  Nayland  Smith  and 
Dr.  Petrie  — 

"  Greeting !  I  am  recalled  home  by  One  who 
may  not  be  denied.  In  much  that  I  came  to  do  I 
have  failed.  Much  that  I  have  done  I  would 
undo;  some  little  I  have  undone.  Out  of  fire  I 
came  —  the  smoldering  fire  of  a  thing  one  day 
to  be  a  consuming  flame;  in  fire  I  go.  Seek  not 
my  ashes.     I  am  the  lord  of  the  fires !     Farewell. 

"  Fu-Manchu." 

Who  has  been  with  me  in  my  several  meetings 
with  the  man  who  penned  that  message  I  leave 
to  adjudge  if  it  be  the  letter  of  a  madman  bent 
upon  self-destruction  by  strange  means,  or  the 
gibe  of  a  preternaturally  clever  scientist  and  the 
most  elusive  being  ever  born  of  the  land  of  mys- 
tery —  China. 

For  the  present,  I  can  aid  you  no  more  in  the 
forming  of  your  verdict.  A  day  may  come  — 
though  I  pray  it  do  not  —  when  1  shall  be  able  to 
throw  new  light  upon  much  that  is  dark  in  this 
matter.  That  day,  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  could 
only  dawn  in  the  event  of  the  Chinaman's  sur- 
vival; therefore  I  pray  that  the  veil  be  never 
lifted. 

But,  as  I  have  said,  there  is  another  sequel  to 
this  story  which  I  can  contemplate  with  a  dif- 


THE  INSIDIOUS  DR.  FU-MANCHU      383 

ferent  countenance.  How,  then,  shall  I  con- 
clude this  very  unsatisfactory  account? 

Shall  I  tell  you,  finally,  of  my  parting  with 
lovely,  dark-eyed  Karamaneh,  on  board  the  liner 
which  was  to  bear  her  to  Egypt? 

No,  let  me,  instead,  conclude  with  the  words 
of  Nayland  Smith: 

ul  sail  for  Burma  in  a  fortnight,  Petrie.  I 
have  leave  to  break  my  journey  at  the  Ditch* 
How  would  a  run  up  the  Nile  fit  your  programme? 
Bit  early  for  the  season,  but  you  might  find  some/ 
thing  to  amuse  you !  n 


The  End 


The  greatest  pleasure  in  life  is 
that  of  reading.  Why  not  then 
own  the  books  of  great  novelists 
when  the  price  is  so  small 


C  Of  all  the  amusements  which  can  possibly 
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his  daily  toil,  or,  in  its  intervals,  there  is 
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It  calls  for  no  bodily  exertion.  It  transports 
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him  to  his  next  day's  workt  and  gives  him 
something  to  think  of  besides  the  mere 
mechanical  drudgery  of  his  every-day  occu- 
pation— something  he  can  enjoy  while  absent, 
and  look  forward  with  pleasure  to  return  to. 

Ask  your  dealer  for  a  list  of  the  titles 
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Door  of  Dread,  The.    Arthur  Stringer. 

Doors  of  the  Night.    Frank  L.  Packard. 

Dope.    Sax  Rohmer. 

Double  Traitor,  The.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Dust  of  the  Desert.    Robert  Welles  Ritchie. 

Empty  Hands.    Arthur  Stringer. 

Empty  Pockets.    Rupert  Hughes. 

Empty  Sack,  The.    Basil  King. 

Enchanted  Canyon.     Honore  Willsre. 

Enemies  of  Women.    V.  B.  Ibanez.  (Photoplay  Edjo 

Eris.    Robert  W.  Chambers. 

Erskine  Dale,  Pioneer.    John  Fox,  Jr. 

Evil  Shepherd,  The.     E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Extricating  Obadiah.    Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Eye  of  Zeitoon,  The.     Talbot  Mundy. 

Eyes  of  the  Blind.     Arthur  Somers  Roche. 

Eyes  of  the  World.    Harold  Bell  Wright 

Fair  Harbor.    Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Family.     Wayland  Wells  Williams. 

Fathoms  Deep.     Elizabeth  Stancy  Payne. 

Feast  of  the  Lanterns*    Louise  Gordon  Miln. 

Fighting  Chance,  Tb*    Robert  W.  Chambers* 


AT     A      POPULAR      PRICE 

Fighting  Shepherdess,  The.    Caroline  Lockhart, 

Financier,  The.    Theodore  Dreiser. 

Fire  Tongue.    Sax  Rohmer. 

Flaming  Jewel,  The.    Robert  W.  Chambers, 

Flowing  Gold.    Rex  Beach. 

Forbidden  Trail,  The.    Honore  Willsie. 

Forfeit,  The.    Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Four  Million,  The.    O.  Henry. 

Foursquare.     Grace  S.  Richmond. 

Four  Stragglers,  The.    Frank  L.  Packard. 

Free  Range  Lanning.     George  Owen  Baxter, 

From  Now  On.    Frank  L.  Packard. 

Futf  Bringers,  The.     Hulbert  Footner. 

Further  Adventures  of  Jimmie  Dale.    Frank  L.  Packard* 

Galusha  the  Magnificent,    Joseph  iC.  Lincoln. 

Gaspards  of  Pine  Croft,  The.    Ralph  Connor, 

Gay  Year,  The.    Dorothy  Speare. 

Gift  of  the  Desert.    Randall  Parrish. 

Girl  in  the  Mirror,  The.    Elizabeth  Jordan. 

Girl  from  Kellers,  The.    Harold  Bindloss. 

Girl  Philippa,  The.    Robert  W.  Chambers. 

Girls  at  His  Billet,  The.    Berta  Ruck. 

Glory?  Rides  the  Range.     Ethel  and  James  Dorrance. 

God's  Country  and  the  Woman.    James  Oliver  Curwood. 

God's  Good  Man.     Marie  Correlli. 

Going  Some.    Rex  Beach. 

Gold  Girl,  The.    James  B.  Hendry*. 

Gold-Killer.    John  Prosper. 

Golden  Scorpion,  The.    Sax  Rohmer. 

Golden  Slipper,  The.     Anna  Katherine  Greelf. 

Golden  Woman,  The.    Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Gray  Phantom,  The.     Herman  Landon. 

Gray  Phantom's  Return,  The.     Herman  Landon. 

Great  Impersonation,  The.     E.  Phillips  Oppenheim, 

Great  Prince  Shan,  The.     E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Greater  Love  Hath  No  Man.     Frank  L.  Packard. 

Green  Eyes  of  Bast,  The.    Sax  Rohmer. 

Green  Goddess,  The.    Louise  Jordan  Miln.    (Photoplay  Ed.\ 

Greyfriars  Bobby.    Eleanor  Atkinson. 

Gun  Brand,  The.    James  B.  Hendryx. 

Gun  Runner,  The.     Arthur  Stringer. 

Guns  of  the  Gods.    Talbot  Mundy. 

Hand  of  Fu-Manchu,  The.    Sax  Rohmer. 

Hand  of  Peril,  The.    Arthur  Stringer. 


THE  BEST  OF  RECENT   FICTION 

Harbor  Road,  The.    Sara  Ware  Bassett. 

Harriet  and  the  Piper.    Kathleen  Norris. 

Havoc     E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Head  of  the  House  of  Coombe,  The.      Frances    Hodgson 

Burnett. 
Heart  of  the  Desert,  The.    Honore  Willsie. 
Heart  of  the  Hills,  The.    John  Fox,  Jr. 
Heart  of  the  Range,  The.    William  Patterson  White* 
Heart  of  the  Sunset.    Rex  Beach. 
Heart  of  Unaga,  The.     Ridgwell  Cullum. 
Helen  of  the  Old  House.    Harold  Bell  Wright. 
Hidden  Places*  The.    Bertrand  W.  Sinclair. 
Hidden  Trails.    William  Patterson  White, 
Hillman,  The.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 
Hira  Singh,    Talbot  Mundy. 
His  Last  Bow.    A.  Conan  Doyle. 
His  Official  Fiancee.    Berta  Ruck. 
Homeland.    Margaret  Hill  McCarter. 
Homestead  Ranch.     Elizabeth  G.  Young. 
Honor  of  the  Big  Snows.    James  Oliver  Curwood* 
Hopalong  Cassidy.    Clarence  E.  Mulford. 
Hound  from  the  North,  The.    Ridgwell  Cullum. 
House  of  the  Whispering  Pines,  The.  Anna  Katharine  Green* 
Humoresque.    tFannie  Hurst. 
Illustrious  Prince,  The.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim, 
In  Another  Girl's  Shoes.    Berta  Ruck. 
Indifference  of  Juliet,  The.    Grace  S.  Richmond. 
Infelice.    Augusta  Evans  Wilson. 
Initials  Only.    Anna  Katharine  Green. 
Innocent.    Marie  Corelli. 

Innocent  Adventuress,  The.    Mary  Hastings  Bradley. 
Insidious  Dr.  Fu-Manchu,  The.    Sax  Rohmer. 
In  the  Brooding  Wild.    Ridgwell  Cullum. 
In  the  Onyx  Lobby.    Carolyn  Wells. 
Iron  Trail,  The.    Rex  Beach. 
Iron  Woman,  The.    Margaret  ©eland, 
Ishmael.    (111.)     Mrs.  Southworth. 
Isle  of  Retribution.     Edison  Marshall. 
I've  Married  Marjorie.     Margaret  Widdemer, 
Ivory  Trail,  The.    Talbot  Mundy. 
Jacob's  Ladder.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 
Jean  of  the  Lazy  A.    B.  M.  Bower. 
Jeanne  of  the  Marshes.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim, 
Jeeves.    P.  G.  Wodehouse. 


AT     A      POPULAR      PRICE 

Jimmie  Dale  and  the  Phantom  Clew.    Frank  L.  Packard. 

Johnny  Nelson.    Clarence  E.  Mulford. 

Joseph  Greer  and  His  Daughter.     Henry  Kitchell  Webster* 

Judith  of  the  Godless  Valley.  Honore  Willsie. 

Keeper  of  the  Door,  The.    Ethel  M.  Dell. 

Keith  of  the  Border.     Randall  Parrish. 

Kent  Knowles:  Quahaug.    Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

ililmeny  of  the  Orchard.     L.  M.  Montgomery. 

Kingdom  of  the  Blind,  The.     E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

King  of  Kearsarge.    Arthur  O.  Friel. 

King  of  the  Khyber  Rifles.    Talbot  Mundy. 

King  Spruce.    Holman  Day. 

Knave  of  Diamonds,  The.    Ethel  M.  Dell. 

Land-Girl's  Love  Story,  A.    Berta  Ruck. 

Land  of  Strong  Men,  The.    A.  M.  Chisholm. 

Laramie  Holds  the  Range.    Frank  H.  Spearman. 

Last  Trail,  The.    Zane  Grey. 

Laughing  Bill  Hyde.    Rex  Beach. 

Laughing  Girl,  The.    Robert  W.  Chambers. 

Law  Breakers,  The.    Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Law  of  the  Gun,  The.    Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Leavenworth  Case,  The.    Anna  Katherine  Green.  (Photoplay 

Edition). 
Light  That  Failed,  The.     Rudyard  Kipling.  (Photoplay  Ed.). 
Lighted  Way,  The.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 
Lin  McLean.    Owen  Wister. 
Lister's  Great  Adventure.    Harold  Bindloss. 
Little  Moment  of   Happiness,    The.      Clarence     Budington 

Kelland. 
Little  Red  Foot,  The.    Robert  W.  Chambers. 
Little  Warrior,  The.    Pelham  Grenville  Wodehouse. 
I„one!y  Warrior,  The.    Claude  C.  Washburn. 
Lonesome  Land.    B.  M.  Bower. 
Lone  Wolf,  The.    Louis  Joseph  Vance. 
iu/ong  Live  the  King.     Mary  Roberts  Rinehart   (Photoplay 

Edition). 
Loct  Ambassador.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 
Lost  Discovery.,  The.    Baillie  Reynolds. 
Lost  Prince,  The.    Frances  Hodgson  Burnett, 
L->st  World,  The.     A.  Conan  Doyle. 
Luck  of  the  Kid,  The.    Ridgwell  Cullum. 
Lucretia  Lombard,  Kathleen  Norris. 
Luminous  Face,  The.    Carolyn  Wells. 
Lydia  of  the  Pines.    Honore  Willsie. 


THE   BEST  OF   RECENT   FICTION 

fi  ni.i.i...   ■ ilium        iiimi II    nil .nil  ,       nun ... 

Lynch  Lawyers.    William  Patterson  White. 

McCarty  Incog.    Isabel  Ostrander. 

Major,  The.     Ralph  Connor. 

Maker  of  History,  A.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Malefactor,  The.     E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Man  and  Maid.    Elinor  Glyn. 

Man  from  Bar  20,  The.    'Clarence  E.  Mulford. 

Man  from  the  Bitter  Roots,  The.    Caroline  Lockhart 

Man  in  the  Moonlight,  The.    Rupert  S.  Holland. 

Man  in  the  Twilight,  The.     Ridgwell   Cullum. 

Man  Killers,  The.     Dane  Coolidge. 

Man  Who  Couldn't  Sleep,  The.    Arthur  Stringer. 

Man's  Country.     Peter  Clark  Macfarlane. 

Marqueray's  Duel.     Anthony  Pryde. 

Martin  Conisby's  Vengeance.    Jeffery  Farnol. 

Mary-Gusta.    Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Mary  Wollaston.     Henry  Kitchell  Webster. 

Mason  of  Bar  X  Ranch.    H.  Bennett. 

Master  of  Man.    Hall  Caine. 

Master  Mummer,  The.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Memoirs  of  Sherlock  Holmes.    A  Conan  Doyle. 

Men  Who  Wrought,  The.    Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Meredith  Mystery,  The.     Natalie  Sumner  Lincoln. 

Midnight  of  the  Ranges.    George  Gilbert. 

Mine  with  the  Iron  Door,  The.     Harold  Bell  Wright 

Mischief  Maker,  The.     E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Missioner,  The.     E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Miss  Million's  Maid.    Berta  Ruck. 

Money,  Love  and  Kate.     Eleanor  H.  Porter. 

Money  Master,  The.     Gilbert  Parker. 

Money  Moon,  The.     Jeffery  Farnol. 

Moonlit  Way,  The.     Robert  W.  Chambers. 

More  Limehouse  Nights.    Thomas  Burke. 

More  Tish.     Mary  Roberts  Rinehart. 

Moreton  Mystery,  The.     Elizabeth  Dejeans. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sen.     Louise  Jordan  Miln. 

Mr.  Grex  of  Monte  Carlo.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Mr.  Pratt.    Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Mr.  Pratt's  Patients.    Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Mrs.  Red  Pepper.     Grace  S.  Richmond. 

Mr.  Wu.    Louise  Jordan  Miln. 

My  Lady  of  the  North.    Randall  Parrish. 

My  Lady  of  the  South.    Randall  Parish. 

Mystery  Girl,  The.    Carolyn  Wells. 


AT     A      POPULAR      PRICE 

Mystery  of  the  Hasty  Arrow,  The.    Anna  K.  Green. 

Mystery  of  the  Silver  Dagger,  The.    Randall  Parrish. 

Nameless  River.    Vingie  E.  Roe. 

Ne'er-Do-Well,  The.    Rex  Beach.  (Photoplay  Ed.). 

Net,  The.     Rex  Beach. 

Never  Fail  Blake.    Arthur  Stringer, 

Next  Corner,  The.     Kate  Jordan. 

NightfalL    Anthony  Pryde. 

Night  Horseman,  The.    Max  Brand. 

Night  of  the  Wedding,  The.     C.  N.  and  A.  M.  Williamson, 

Night  Operator,  The.    Frank  L.  Packard. 

Night  Riders,  The.    Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Nine  Unknown,  The.    Talbot  Mundy. 

Nobody's  Man.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

No  Defence.     Gilbert  Parker. 

North.    James  B.  Hendryx. 

Obstacle  Race,  The.    Ethel  M.  ©ell. 

Odds.    Ethel  M.  Dell. 

Old  Misery.    Hugh  Pen  dexter, 

Omoo.     Herman  Melville. 

One  Thing  Is  Certain.    Sophie  Kerr. 

One-Way  Trail,  The.    Ridgwell  Cullum, 

Ordeal  of  Honor,  An.    Anthony  Pryde. 

Outlaw,  The.    Jackson  Gregory. 

Owner  of  the  Lazy  D.    William  Patterson  White. 

Panelled  Room,  The.    Rupert  Sargent  Holland. 

Paradise  Bend.    William  Patterson  White. 

Pardners.    Rex  Beach. 

Partners  of  the  Tide.    Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Patricia  Brent,  Spinster.     Anonymous. 

Patrol  of  the  Sun  Dance  Trail,  The.    Ralph  Conner, 

Paul  Anthony,  Christian.    Hiram  W.  Hayes. 

Pawned.    Frank  L.  Packard. 

Pawns  Count,  The.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Pay  Gravel.    Hugh  Pendexter. 

Peacemakers,  The.     Hiram  W.  Hayes. 

Peregrine's  Progress.     Jeffery  Farnoll. 

Peter  Ruff  and  the  Double  Four.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Phantom  Wires.    Arthur  Stringer. 

Pointed  Tower,  The.    Vance  Thompson. 

Pollyanna;  "The  Glad  Book."    Eleanor  H.  Porter.  (Lim.  Ed.), 

Trade  Mark— -Trade-Mark. 
Poor  Man's  Rock.    Bertrand  W.  Sinclair. 
Poor  Wise  Man,  A.    Mary  Robeits  Rinehart. 


THE  BEST  OF  RECENT   FICTION 

Poisoned  Paradise,  The.  Robert  W.  Service,  (Photoplay  Ed.). 

Portygee,    The,    Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Possession.    Olive  Wadsley. 

Postmaster,  The.    Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Prairie  Child,  The.    Arthur  Stringer. 

Prairie  Flowers.    James  B.  Hendryx. 

Prairie  Mother,  The.    Arthur  Stringer. 

Prairie  Wife,  The.    Arthur  Stringer. 

Pretender,  The.    Robert  W.  Service. 

Prince  of  Sinners,  A.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Prodigal  Daughters,  The.    Joseph  Hocking.  (Photoplay  Ed.J* 

Prodigal  Son.    Hall  Caine.     (Photoplay  Ed.). 

Profiteers,  The.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Promise,  The.    J.  B.  Hendryx. 

Public  Square,  The.    Will  Levington  Comfort. 

Purple  Mask,  The,    Louise  Jordan  Miln. 

Purple  Pearl,  The.    Anthony  Pryde. 

Quemado.    William  West  Winter. 

Quest  of  the  Sacred  Slipper,  The.    Sax  Rohmer. 

Quill's  Window.    George  Barr  McCutcheon. 

Rainbow's  End,  The.    Rex  Beach. 

Rainbow  Valley.    L.  M.  Montgomery. 

Ramshackle  House.    Hulbert  Footner. 

Ranch  at  the  Wolverine,  The.    B.  M.  Bower. 

Ranching  for  Sylvia.    Harold  Bindloss. 

Rangy  Pete.  Guy  Morton. 

Raspberry  Jam.    Carolyn  Wells. 

Reclaimer's,  The.    -Margaret  Hill  McCarter. 

Re-Creation  of  Brian  Kent,  The.    Harold  Bell  Wright, 

Red  and  Black.     Grace  S.  Richmond. 

Red  Pepper  Burns,    Grace  S.  Richmond. 

Red  Pepper's  Patients.    Grace  S.  Richmond. 

Red  Seal,  The.    Natalie  Sumner  Lincoln. 

Restless  Sex,  The.    Robert  W.  Chambers. 

Return  of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu,  The.    Sax  Rohmer. 

Return  of  Frank  Clamart,  The.    Henry  C.  Rowland. 

Return  of  Tarzan  The.    Edgar  Rice  Burroughs. 

Riddle  of  the  Frozen  Flame  The.    M.  E.  and  T.  W.  Hansfiew. 

Riddle  of  the  Mysterious  Light  The.     M.   E.  and  T.    W. 

Hanshew. 
Riddle  of  the  Purple  Emperor  The,      M.  E.  and  T.   W. 

Hanshew. 
Riddle  of  the  Spinning  Wheel,  The,     M,    E.  and  T.   W. 

Hanshew. 


AT     fA      POPULAR      PRICE 

— . — »— a—— — wamm —  i<      m     i    ■  — — — — ■  ■  niffiiiii  '■     "■ ■»n.^ 

Rider  of  the  Golden  Bar,  The.    William  Patterson  White. 

Rider  of  the  King  Log,  The.    Holman  Day, 

Rider  o*  the  Stars.    R.  J.  Horton.  t 

Riders  of  the  Silences.    John  Frederick. 

Rilla  of  Ingleside.    L.  M.  Montgomery. 

Rimrock  Trail.    J.  Allan  Dunn. 

Rise  of  Roscoe  Paine,  The.    Joseph  C.  Lincoln., 

River  Trail,  The.    Laurie  Y.  Erskine. 

Robin.    Frances  Hodgson  Burnett. 

Rocks  of  Valpre,  The.    Ethel  M.  Dell. 

Rogues  of  the  North.    Albert  M.  Treynor. 

Romance  of  a  Million  Dollars,  The.    Elizabeth  Dejeans. 

Rosa  MundL    Ethel  M.  Dell. 

Rose  of  Santa  Fe,  The.    Edwin  L.  Sabiri. 

Round  the  Corner  in  Gay  Street.    Grace  S.  Richmond. 

Rotmd-Up,  The.    Oscar  J.  Friend, 

Rung  Ho!    Talbot  Mundy. 

Rustler  of  Wind  River,  The.       G.  W.  Ogden. 

St  Elmo.  (111.    Ed.)  Augusta  J.  Evans, 

Sand.    Olive  Wadsley. 

Scarlet  Iris,  The.    Vance  Thompson. 

Scattergood  Baines.     Clarence  Budingtori  Kelland. 

Second  Violin,  The.    Grace  S.  Richmond, 

Secret  Power,  The.    Marie  Corelli. 

Self-Raised.  (111).     Mrs.  SouthwortK. 

Settling  of  the  Sage.    Hal  G.  Evarts. 

Seven  Ages  of  Woman,  The.    Compton  Mackenzie. 

Seven  Darlings,  The.    Gouverneur  Morris. 

Seventh  Man,  The.    Max  Brand. 

Shadow  of  the  East,  The.    E.  M.  Hull.    (Photoplay  Ed.). 

Shadow  on  the  Glass,  The.    Charles  J.  Dutton. 

Shavings.    Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Sheik,  The.     E.  M.  Hull. 

Sheila  of  Big  Wreck  Cove.    James  H.  Cooper. 

Shepherd  of  the  Hills,  The.     Harold  Bell  Wright 

Shepherds  of  the  Wild.     Edison  Marshall. 

Sheriff  of  Dyke  Hole,  The.    Ridgwell  Cullum, 

Sherry.    George  Barr  McCutcheon. 

Shoe-Bar  Stratton.    Joseph  B.  Ames. 

Sight  Unseen,  and  The  Confession.    Mary  Roberts  Rinehart 

Silver  Horde,  The.    Rex  Beach. 

Silver  Poppy,  The.    Arthur  Stringer. 

Singing  Bone,  The.    R.  Austin  Freeman. 

Singing  Wells,  The.    Roland  Pertwee. 


THE   BEST  OF   RECENT   FICTION 

-  m 

Sinister  Mark,  The.    Lee  Thayer. 

Sin  That  Was  His,  The.    Frank  L.  Packard. 

Sir  or  Madam.     Berta  Ruck. 

Sisters-in-Law.     Gertrude  Atherton. 

Sky  Line  of  Spruce.    Edison  Marshall. 

Slayer  of  Souls,  The.    Robert  W.  Chambers. 

Smiles:  A  Rose  of  the  Cumberlands.    Eliot  H.  Robinson. 

Snowdrift.    James  B.  Hendryx. 

Snowshoe  Trail,  The.     Edison  Marshall. 

Son  of  His  Father,  The.    Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Son  of  Tarzan,  The.    Edgar  Rice  Burroughs. 

Souls  for  Sale.    Rupert  Hughes.     (Photoplay  Ed.). 

Speckled  Bird,  A.    Augusta  Evans  Wilson. 

Spirit  of  the  Border,  The.    Zane  Grey.     (New  Edition). 

Spirit-of-Iron.    Harwood  Steele. 

Spoilers,  The.    Rex  Beach.     (Photoplay  Ed.). 

Spoilers  of  the  Valley,  The.    Robert  Watson. 

Star  Dust.     Fannie  Hurst. 

Steele  of  the  Royal  Mounted.    James  Oliver  Curwood. 

Step  on  the  Stair,  The.    Anna  Katherine  Green. 

Still  Jim.    Honore  Willsie. 

Story  of  Foss  River  Ranch,  The.    Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Story  of  Marco,  The.    Eleanor  H.  Porter. 

Strange  Case  of  Cavendish,  The.    Randall  Parrish. 

Strawberry  Acres.     Grace  S.  Richmond* 

Strength  of  the  Pines,  The.     Edison  Marshall. 

Subconscious  Courtship,  The.    Berta  Ruck. 

Substitute  Millionaire,  The.     Hulbert  Footner. 

Sudden  Jim.    Clarence  B.  Kelland. 

Sweethearts!  Unmet.     Berta  Ruck. 

Sweet  Stranger.    Berta  Ruck. 

Tales  of  Chinatown.    Sax  Rohmer. 

Tales  of  Secret  Egypt.    Sax  Rohmer. 

Tales  of  Sherlock  Holmes,    A.  Conan  Doyle. 

Talkers,  The.    Robert  W.  Chambers. 

Talisman,  The.    Sir  Walter  Scott.  (Photoplay  Ed.).  Screened 

as  Richard  the  Lion  Hearted. 
Taming  of  Zenas  Henry,  The.    Sara  Ware  Basset. 
Tarzan  of  the  Apes.    Edgar  Rice  Burroughs. 
Tarzan  and  the  Jewels  of  Opar.     Edgar  Rice  Burroughs. 
Tattooed  Arm,  The.    Isabel  Ostrander. 
Tempting  of  Tavernake,  The.    E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 
Tess  of  the  D*Urbervilles.    Thomas  Hardy.  (Photoplay  Ed.). 
Tex.    Clarence  E.  Mulford. 


NIVERSITY  Of  N  C  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


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#00820 1356 12* 


